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#I am so desperate for more designer marinette
katyspersonal · 6 months
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Ok ok ok I'll stop talking about PG TV shows I promise, but I've watched some more episodes of Miraculous' 5th season and I am glad I continued despite the Headache Episode TM
- I actually really like how much their writing progressed in terms of psychology? Like you guys know I absolutely love this shit, aside of Thomas having the first recorded case of abusing a fictional character (Chloe) the characters are now written so much more interesting? And themes addressed are much deeper? I am just hooked all the time?? Like, are you ever just absolutely GLUED to characters simply thinking and having problems and personalities, even when nothing is actually happening?
- I guessed that Zoe actually had a crush on Marinette instantly, before anything actually gave it away xd That was really cute
- Damn I spilled my tea at the Felix episode :т Fuckin' RED MOON. Not only it was really cool and beautiful, but I also can never see red moon normally because iS tHiS bB rEfErEnCe???? fshshd But in general, I love where they are going with Felix's personality and motivation.
- Okay sorry I am still angry at retconning Marinette's stalkery obssessive traits as "trust issues over trauma Chloe caused to her", because it just doesn't work since.....
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well, she WAS dating Luca despite not having learned every single thing about him including personal private life prior -_-" So where did the "I will never love anyone unless I know everything about them" go? They are not even trying sometimes т.т This is what happens when you are so desperate to yassify your flawed OC that you neglect previous events that contradict it :smh:
- THE SCENE WHERE GABRIEL TRIED TO BE ALL "IT IS REAL LIFE KID" TO MARINETTE ABOUT HER dream to become clothes designed and attempted to blackmail her and then she went against his demands AND ALSO COMPLETELY TRASHED HIS FUCKING PANCAKES FSHFDJHGHSFD IT WAS SO SATISFYING TO SEE FHSDHDGHSDF THANK YOU MARINETTE
- Again, spilled my tea when Lila's mother appeared to be mute because I could clearly remember she was talking,... then I realized she looked very different, so I realized Lila had two mothers.
- I also thought of something after Adrien mentioned to Gabriel that him and mom were also "different", like him and Marinette are 🤔 I thought 'damn, now Kagami is third-wheeling Adrien and Marinette in the exact same way as how Natalie used to third-wheel Gabriel and Emilie 🤔' ...and then Felix appeared to hit on Kagami, so I guess not fdshfhdhdsdfs I did think of a smart parallel, though.
Okay, just 7 more episodes of season 5 to go
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artzychic27 · 1 year
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fun fact about everyone in Scarlet Beetle au?
Kim:
Some self esteem problems (Intelligence-related) But he’s getting better thanks to Tikki, Max, and Ikati Black
Will do anyone’s hair if they ask
Keeps closet stocked on hair gel
Has been best friends with Marinette and Nino since forever, and became friends with Max when they were nine and he beat up his bully
Always in the middle of the group cuddle pile
Likes to model Marinette’s clothes
Wears eyeliner because it makes his eyes pop
Kim: *Slaying in black eye shadow* Don’t hate me because I am gorgeous.
Always makes sure to keep a few bags of candy in his bag for Tikki
When he’s in class, he’ll plug his earbuds up to his phone and let Tikki watch some Netflix documentaries in his bag
Functional Bisexual (Keeps his crushes on the down low)
He’s usually the attractive one every queer guy simps over
Tikki counts his sets when he’s exercising
She also ships Kimax
Max:
Still has his afro
Plagg likes to hide in it
Gay Disaster around Kim and Scarlet Beetle
He’s Scarlet Beetle’s impulse control… Meaning if he doesn’t go batshit crazy on some asshole who just insulted him, Ikati Black will
Plagg is loving every second of it
It feels weird destroying things when Max is so used to creating
Looking up the history of the Miraculous so he can get more information, but he’s reached a dead end and Plagg doesn’t seem to like talking about certain things
Goes absolutely feral when his friends get hurt (Side effect of his Miraculous)
He can purr now, and does it so Marinette can calm down when she’s stressed
Should definitely be in university
Shortest in the Best Friend Squad… But he’ll always be taller than Nathaniel, and he’s fine with that
Ikati Black can and will make a scene!
Tries his hardest not to simp over Scarlet Beetle’s muscles
Marinette:
FERAL GIRL!
Marinette: LET’S FUCK UP SOME SHIT, BITCHES!
Nino: Language!
Marinette: *Says the same thing, but in mandarin*
Cyber Goth aesthetic
Still likes pink
Still a bit clumsy at times
Surprisingly strong
The loudest
She WILL drop kick Chloé’s head if given the chance
LOVES Alya! (Platonically) And she’d die for her… And she almost has
She’s Alya’s impulse control, keeping her from doing anything crazy during Akuma attacks
This girl don’t take shit from anyone
She’s mostly friends with guys
Marinette’s like a… Eurasian Spinelli from Disney’s Recess
Most of her best designs were made while she was angry
Nino
Coolest Guy you will ever meet
Gives the best hug
Is the group’s impulse control
It’s his duty as the mom friend. He actually put them on leashes
Likes to meditate
Came up with the nicknames when they were ten and doing a Scooby Doo marathon at his house
During “those days”, he’s in the middle of the cuddle piles
Marinette’s photographer for her clothes
He has a collection of headphones back at home
His original living situation was… Not the best. So now he lives with his aunts and little cousin, Chris
Kim got him his cap
Has playlists for all of his friends so he can listen and be reminded of them (Aaw)
As the mom friend, he is obligated to adopt anyone he desires (That means Kagami)
Nino: *Carrying Kagami over his shoulder* She is my daughter now.
Keeps a medical bag in his locker
Alya:
Curls for days
Sneaker head
Tall and pretty
Pretty and nerdy
Likes to mix Paris and Martinique fashion and is making it work
Part of the “should be a model” club with Juleka and Reshma
Marinette’s impulse control
Wears a lot of bracelets
Leaves girls blushing
If she has on a dress or skirt, leggings or biker shorts are always worn underneath
Not as addicted to her phone
Sort of on Monarch’s side. He was a lot nicer than she believed
Desperately wants to get Sabrina away from Chloé
Will refer to people as ‘Hon’
WHY IS SHE SO BEAUTIFUL?!
Adrien:
Taking no one’s shit!
He’s still sunshine
If they all wore black, his family could be the Addams Family (Minus Fester and Pugsley (Because he’d make an awesome Wednesday))
Slight heterochromia, one eye his darker than the other
Has more freedom and only models on certain days
Likes to be carried, especially by Marinette
He’s a blonde gremlin
Anime nerd, mostly 90s stuff
Will speak out against any form of abuse
Embarrassing dad and crazy mom just like everyone else
Hates being grabbed out of nowhere
Loves American comedies. It helped him learn the language. His favorite is One Day at a Time and All That
Obviously simping for Marinette
Coffee.
Adrien: All we need is a seventh boy, and we’ll be the Ouran Host Club!
Nathaniel:
Momma’s boy and doesn’t care who knows it. He loves his mom and just to make her day, will call her ‘Mommy’
Shortest boy in class, but he’s the oldest. He’s basically the Mitsukuni Haninozuka of the boys
The guys still like to mess with him, though, but it’s in good fun
Nathaniel: Guys, I need a boost.
Kim: *Smugly* Ask the right way.
Nathaniel: … I need upsies.
Monarch’s heels, plus the glamour add a TON of height
He’d kill for Nooroo
Wears a lot of soft hoodies so Nooroo will be comfortable in the front pocket
Rose loves to squish his face whenever she has the opportunity
Thicc
LOVES kids and it takes all of his willpower to not adopt a random child off the street
He’s a villain, but he’s got some a lot of morals
Like… Talking to his akumas and guiding them along, don’t let them kill anyone, and keep his loved ones from getting hurt
First person people go to when they need a poster for a school event
Reads comics and manga with Alya and Reshma
Alix:
Best friends with Nathaniel since they were born
Curses in Arabic sometimes
Only physically affectionate around Nath
Marinette’s partner in badassery and cyber goth fashion
Nathaniel paints designs on her skateboard and skates
She has him do henna tattoos on her arm because she can’t keep her hand steady enough to do them herself
Friendly rivalry with Kim
Mixed feelings about Monarch
I mean, he was nice to her on her birthday
Lives in the Louvre?? Are their apartments or something there?
Pretty close to Jalil
Just wishes he weren’t such a dork
Top of her history class
Has a friendly history class rivalry with Simon
Nathaniel cut her hair when they were seven, and she’s kept it like that ever since
MUSCLES!
Ivan:
He’s baby, you guys!
Just don’t get on his bad side
Doesn’t really see Monsrch as a villain, more like a being of chaos
Will carry you
Mom friend in training. Nino won’t always be around
Paints his nails
*Shrugs* Demiboy
Has a ton of horror themed stuffed animals he and Juleka bought at a convention
Meditates with Nino
Dyes Myléne’s hair when the colors start to fade (Kim and Juleka taught him how)
Marinette kinda scares him. She’s the only person able to carry him
Also has playlists inspired by his friends (And girlfriend)
Does beat poetry
Myléne:
Dresses like it’s the seventies
Owns a lot of bandanas
Kinda scared of Monarch
Goes thrifting a lot
Owns over two hundred iron on patches
Likes Indie rock bands
If Ivan doesn’t get upset, she will, and it won’t be pretty
Ivan: You’re beautiful when you’re angry.
Myléne: THEN I’M ABOUT TO BE A FUCKING SUPER MODEL!
Has fifty Body positivity patches
Broadway Baby
Naturally, she’s friends with Jean
Marinette thinks she’s iconic- A short theater-loving hippie with a fiery attitude who knows how to up-cycle and has a poet boyfriend
Loves mimes
Associated with a Children’s Hospital charity
Has handcuffs in case she needs to cuff herself to an important structure about to be demolished
If the right buttons are pushed, she will go feral
… Also, she knits
Juleka:
Pretty lesbian goddess!
Teenage Morticia Addams
May or May not have a spell books
And some of them may or may not work on unsuspecting assholes
Aurore’s ‘Sister of the Parasol’
Tallest girl in class (Alya’s just one millimeter short)
A little more outspoken than canon
Has binders just in case anyone else comes out
Knows every horror movie trope
Thinking about filing her teeth to make fangs
Naturally pale (It was a medical problem when she was born)
Always has just one spec of pink on her outfits
Speaks Icelandic since most of her favorite bands are from Iceland
The Princess to Rose’s Knight
Juleka: Rose, Marinette’s not our daughter from the future.
Rose: She wears pink, and she’s a cyber goth!
Juleka: … Well, she does have blue eyes.
Thinks Monarch is… Okay
Rose:
Everyone’s favorite chaotic ray of sunshine
Wears a ton of pastels
Thinks Juleka is the most beautiful thing in this world
Nathaniel is the most precious
And Alix is the most badass
In and out of hospitals (Tells people it’s a family emergency so they don’t worry)
Wears suits to formal events
Doesn’t look like it, but she loves grunge, heavy metal, death metal, grindcore, Viking metal, etc.
Yet, her ringtone is PFUDOR
Collects vintage perfume bottles
Has over fifty plushies at home
Paints Juleka’s nails
She thinks Monarch has his reasons since he doesn’t seem so evil
Still, she’s watching him
This girl can throw a punch
Watches a lot of Disney
Sabrina
Just wants school to be over
Wasn’t always Chloé servant
Chloé was just looking for the weakest person in class to do whatever she commanded… And since Nathaniel was out sick that day, she was stuck with Sabrina
Has a lot of stress balls
Thinks Alya is the most beautiful girl in class
Her parents are divorced because her mom was a total narcissistic who blamed her and Roger for all of her mistakes
Actually used to be friends with Marinette, Kim, and Nino. Then Chloé snatched her up
Is afraid to stand up to Chloé because of what she’ll have her father do
Has only met Adrien a handful of times during play dates
Had a crush on Max until he came out as gay
Actually really pretty
Outfits are a little… Avant Garde
Would give anything to punch Chloé in the face
Really likes berets
Due to having a police officer for a dad, she knows quite a bit crime trivia that it’s almost scary
She also knows how to disarm someone. Learned that when she was five
Doesn’t really have an opinion on Monarch
Chloé:
Has been terrorizing her class since they were six
No one can find a good bone in her body
And they have TRIED
Whips her ponytail in peoples faces
Has a pointing problem. She just points her finger in peoples faces
Marinette bit her four times
Has been flipped off more times than she can count
Abuses her qualified immunity
At this point, making peoples lives hell is just a game to her
Superiority complex to the max
… Narcissistic personality disorder? (arrogant thinking and behavior, a lack of and consideration for other people, excessive need for admiration, selfish, patronizing, demanding) … Yeah, that seems about right
Not above using her father’s position to make school hell for everyone (Little does she know, she’s putting him on thin ice)
Will I redeem her?… Chances are slim
Tried to get Marinette’s family’s bakery shut down just because she felt like it. And she almost succeeded, too.
She makes Sabrina do her homework
Hates Alya because no one in class should be prettier than her
I’ll do other characters later
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generalluxun · 1 year
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I'm sick, so let me ramble about (one of) my ML AU
I've written a one shot for it, and that's it so far, but I am feeling I might return. It's a gothic AU. Modern day meets Mary Shelly, Lovecraft, and Jules Verne. We still have our Ladybug though, and perhaps I can start by introducing her.
Marinette Dupain-Cheng is a student at FDP Lyceé in Paris France. This part is familiar, as is her baker heritage and interest in crafts. Fashion however, has never been a passion of hers. She's made clothing, and enjoys the challenge of designing just the right outfit for someone, but it will never be more than a hobby.
Her real passion in life is... is it possible to say 'Project Management' at 16? Call it what you will, Marinette likes finding a way to make things work. Events, projects, causes, you name it she's there for it. From Mylène's campaign against poor wastewater management, to Rose's bake sale to raise money for orphan unicorns. Marinette takes joy in making the impossible, happen.
Perhaps it was this that drew the attention of whomever, or whatever, left that fateful box in her room. If only the earrings had come with a warning label, or a guide, or anything other than the two words sewn into the plush lining of the box. 'Spots on.'
Ladybug was born into a Paris in desperate need of a hero. Crime kept doors locked at night. Hot summers and freezing winters had pushed tempers and scruples to new extremes. On top of all this where were... the monsters. Thankfully rare, these beings could cause untold damage before the police could take them down. Paris deserved to be safe once more. Marinette was the girl to find a way.
Powers: Aside from general strength, agility, durability, and her yo-yo Ladybug has three main powers.
Her first power isn't supernatural, but her supernatural abilities allow it to shine. Marinette has a sharp mind. She's quick witted, observant, and tackles every situation as a problem to be solved. Her real strength is the ability to find multiple solutions to every problem. It is also her weakness. Sometimes she can hesitate, or switch gears mid-plan, as doubt takes her. It doesn't help that...
Lucky Charm: Is a monkey's paw of a power. Yes, it will give her an answer to her current situation, but it makes no guarantees of what collateral might come from said solution. Her first partner... she doesn't talk about her first partner. Marinette learned the hard way that she needs to be careful when using this power.
Miraculous Ladybugs!: The power to fix anything. Provided she has the will and fortitude. The Ladybugs are fickle and whimsical agents of creation. Ladybug can command them only through great effort. Summoning them without purpose or strength will lead to them running rampant, and creating who knows what.
Relationships: Marinette knows everyone, but has few close friends.
Alya has had her back for years, frequently the NCO to Marinette's leadership in bigger projects.
Adrien, the boy locked away from life. The boy Ladybug rescued from Agreste Manor. The boy living with her and her parents now. The boy who makes her heart flutter with his desperate innocence. He is someone completely happy with the simple gift of being alive, and with everything else in her life, that grounding influence is wonderful.
Chloé, the opposite of a friend, yet inextricably entwined. No one else can even begin to handle her the way Marinette can. There's a strange symmetry in how well one can get to know an enemy, as well as a friend.
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crazygirl-03 · 2 years
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After seeing young Gabriel and alive Emilie in the new trailer.... Now I desperately want to know more about their love story!!!!! (They look so cute in this picture... 😍)
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We know that Gabriel started as a newbie in the fashion field with no family background and Emilie seems to come from a rich and prestigious family....
I think their story would have been like Adrien and Marinette all over again!!!! (Minus the love square thing, of course...)
The rich model girl falling for the young designer boy...... Gosh... I would love to see that!!!!! And I wonder how Nathalie comes into the picture here... Maybe she was their best friend or something? (Now, Nathalie is giving me Luka vibes...)
And... I wonder when and how exactly the miraculouses came into their lives!?!?? Was it before Gabriel-Emilie marriage or after??? Did they go to Tibet for honeymoon and accidentally found the miraculouses there??? If going to Tibet was their honeymoon trip.. What was Nathalie doing there, with them?
And Bunny-noir was so awesome!!! I'm glad that they didn't hide his hair this time...
I am too excited for this episode and I just wish that the episode is as intense as it seems to be in the trailer!!!!!
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ao3feed-ladynoir · 2 years
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You've Ruined My Life (By Not Being Mine)
you've ruined my life (by not being mine) by alyanetteslvr
If Marinette has been told one thing her entire life, it's that she's extremely intelligent. But even more than that, she's dedicated, and she's spent the entirety of her high school career staying at the top of her class, determined to become le major de promotion and get into the design school of her dreams.
Her only problem? Adrien Agreste. Entitled, insufferable Adrien Agreste, who is just as smart as he is unbearable. He's the only student in her class who holds a candle to her academically, and they've been ruthlessly competing since their first year of lycée. It's clear that they're the only two eligible candidates for le major de promotion, and neither of them are backing down.
That is, until they make a horrible mistake together that leaves both of their chances at le major de promotion in detriment, and the girl they both hate most in the world is next in line for it.
Willing to do anything to stop the unthinkable from happening, Marinette and Adrien grudgingly join forces to make sure they get the best possible grades they can to take down the girl they so desperately don't want to win.
Words: 4961, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English
Fandoms: Miraculous Ladybug
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Categories: F/M
Characters: Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, Alya Césaire, Nino Lahiffe, Lila Rossi, Chloé Bourgeois
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Alya Césaire/Nino Lahiffe
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe, Academic Rivals to Lovers, Slow Burn, so slow i am so sorry, Unresolved Emotional Tension, Unresolved Romantic Tension, Hurt/Comfort, Enemies to Lovers, but they're forced to team up, Everyone Thinks They're Together, they're too smart for their own good, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Fluff and Angst, its always been you trope, Hijinks & Shenanigans, Competition, my mind is officially blank, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Read Here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/39742764
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aksartisticlife · 2 years
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<a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/37954018"><strong>Ember in The Ice</strong></a> (20868 words) by <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/PimkyMcpink"><strong>PimkyMcpink</strong></a><br />Chapters: 7/?<br />Fandom: <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/tags/Miraculous%20Ladybug">Miraculous Ladybug</a><br />Rating: Teen And Up Audiences<br />Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings<br />Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug/Félix Graham de Vanily, adrienette, felixnette, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug/Félix (PV), felinette<br />Characters: Lila Rossi, Alya Césaire, Nino Lahiffe, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, Adrien, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug's Parents, Tom Dupain, Sabine Cheng, Félix Graham de Vanily, Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth<br />Additional Tags: Cinnamon Roll Adrien Agreste, Lie-la, PV Felix Protection, Must be protected at all costs., slowburn?, idk - Freeform, my beloved dumpster fire, Little kitty falling off a roof, no beta we die like real men, Felix is so bipolar I am so sorry, I don't have a consistent style of writing him lol, Animosity is such a cool akuma name lol, Tagging as I go<br />Summary: <p>Most people thought he was cold-hearted, rude, calculative, and an overall bad guy. Some people thought he was the best thing since sliced bread. He had more than one girl fawning over how handsome he looked or the fact that he was rich. But he didn’t care what others thought of him. He was his own person and that was all that mattered to him. </p><p>He was Felix Graham de Vanily, the heir to a multi-million fashion empire, a successful scholar, and a renown student. He was on his way to making his life successful and nobody was going to stop that from happening. When forced to attend a public school he tries to find some peace from the loneliness of his everyday life. The only person who might make him detour his plans, might be one lucky girl.</p><p>/////</p><p>Marinette was an aspiring young designer but a certain bully had damper on her plans to success. Torn between protecting the city and herself, she tries to hang on a little longer until she can transfer schools. </p><p>Then she meets someone that changes her view and they provide an escape she desperately needed.</p><p>/////</p><p>Teen for themes and how dark it gets sometimes. Sorry kiddos.</p>
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cat-saturn · 3 years
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designer + model
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blessedfatui · 2 years
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Without hesitation, Lila uploaded the photo and sent the snapshot to all of her contacts with the caption, “Guess who I saw at the Agreste manor this afternoon >3?”
A THOUSAND WORDS (MARINETTE DUPAIN-CHENG)
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✐ AUTHOR’S NOTES: i am simply uploading these fics from ao3; i have so many what if fics that are just pure salt fics
WORD COUNT: 3k
TW: onichan spoilers, marinette salt, stalking, obsessive behavior, one-sided attraction
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It was pure gold.
Lila unlocked her phone, snapping a picture of a desperate Marinette trying to scale the wall and laughing once the designer fell, trash cans falling with her. It was such a pathetic sight and Lila couldn’t help but taunt her, teasing the praised student for being so desperate and needy for Adrien’s loving glance.
“I could take a photo right now and post it online, but that would be too easy,” Lila lied, walking away with a spring in her step. She already sent out one photo with her and Adrien—mostly her kissing his cheek, so what was one more? Besides, it was Marinette’s own damn fault for being such a creep and making it way too easy to blackmail her.
Without hesitation, Lila uploaded the photo and sent the snapshot to all of her contacts with the caption, “Guess who I saw at the Agreste manor this afternoon >3?”
She smiled, pocketing her phone and making her way back home. Of course, Marinette would be furious once she saw the picture, but Lila didn’t care. It’s what that goody-goody got for sticking her nose in her business and trying to act like she’s a hero and she’s never told a lie before.
Lila did say that she was going to ruin Marinette’s life and she was going to make good on her promise.
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Of course, Kagami had been furious that Lila kissed Adrien, and akumatized into a protective hero called Onichan, but it was ultimately Adrien that felt the most rage built up in the depths of his stomach. He didn’t know who he should be more mad at: Lila for lying to him and using him to get Kagami all riled up or Marinette who tried breaking into his house and for what? What even was the reason for her to do such a thing?
“Can you believe this, Plagg?” Adrien asked, showing the photo to his kwami.
“I can. Your friend has been doing this for a while,” Plagg said, devouring the wheel of cheese. “I thought you would have noticed by now. You’re not very good at reading people, are you?”
Adrien was quiet for a moment, blinking before looking down at his friend. “She has been what?” he said.
Plagg stuffed another slice of cheese in his mouth, realizing that he said too much. He swallowed the slice, hitting his chest with a nervous laugh. “Oh, would you look at the time. I think I’m going to take a nap right now. I’ll see you when I wake up—”
“Plagg, what has Marinette been doing? What do you mean by that?” Adrien questioned, holding up the photo for the destruction kwami to see.
“I’m feeling awfully tired after eating three wheels of delicious Camembert cheese,” Plagg yawned, trying to avoid the conversation and flying over to Adrien’s pillow.
Adrien frowned, joining Plagg on the bed. “Plagg, please tell me what Marinette has been doing,” he pleaded, setting down his phone. “I don’t want to be friends with someone who’s been stalking me, Plagg. Don’t keep this stuff from me,” he added quietly.
It was quiet and Plagg looked up at his young friend. There was a sudden hurt in his eyes and he looked lost. Plagg felt bad for Adrien but he didn’t want to tell his friend that the girl had grown close to was a crazy stalker who stole his trash, exposed a girl because the girl in question was trying to get closer to Adrien, and an assortment of other things. Adrien already had too much to deal with, but he didn’t deserve a shitty friend.
The god sighed, floating up to meet Adrien’s gaze. “Are you sure that you want to know everything Marinette has done?” Plagg asked gently.
Adrien nodded, “Yes.”
“That means you can’t get mad at me for what I’m about to tell you,” Plagg adds.
“I won’t. I just—I need to know because if she’s trying to break into my house, what else is she bound to do?”
Adrien had a fair point and a good reason to be worried about Marinette. Plagg sighed, getting cozy in the pillow and clearing his throat. “Alright, I’ll start from the beginning.”
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When Marinette logged into her social media accounts, she paled. Lila had actually posted the picture of her trying to climb the wall to Adrien’s house and everyone in her class had seen it. She was a mess, screaming at her computer while trying to find a way to get the picture taken down. She tried reporting Lila’s account over and over again, but the staff were no help. According to the guidelines, there was nothing wrong with the photo itself, but Marinette was stressing out.
What if Adrien saw this? Maybe she could convince him that it wasn’t what it looked like? All Marinette wanted to do was protect him from that nasty witch, Lila. She just knew that she (Lila) had her darling under some horrible spell, and he wasn’t thinking clearly.
She whined, scrolling through the comments. Some of them were from strangers, being completely ruthless and calling her a stalker. Marinette was not a stalker; yes, she had Adrien’s entire schedule, knew where he was at any given time of the day, had followed him more than once outside of school, stolen his trash and his phone, but Marinette Dupain-Cheng was not a stalker. She only wanted to protect Marinette from those that wanted to use him like that horrible witch Lila and that brat Chloe.
“Oh, Tikki, what am I going to do?” she whined, looking over at her friend with pleading eyes. “What if Adrien sees this?”
“Just tell him the truth,” was Tikki’s reply. “I don’t want to be rude but I told you to let Adrien handle it, Marinette. He doesn’t need to be babied and he can protect himself—”
“No, he can’t! He let that—that liar in his house! Adrien doesn’t see that she’s just using him!” Marinette cut off, searching through the comments and the likes to see if Adrien had seen the photo already. So far, she found nothing attaching him to the photo so she let out a sigh of relief. That was a good sign; she could explain the whole situation to Adrien when they went to school tomorrow.
Of course, Chloe was in the comments, saying how she always knew Marinette was a hopeless romantic, but this took the fucking cake. Chloe’s words didn’t matter—no one’s word mattered to Marinette except for Adrien’s. Several accounts had tagged Adrien, but they received no response.
That was also a good sign, right?
She was absolutely wrong. There was a comment from Gabriel Agreste—well, more like the company account. Marinette felt her blood stop as she hesitantly clicked on the read more section, jaw dropping at what they had to say. No, no, no! This couldn’t be happening now!
Thank you all for tagging us to this photo. We will no longer be working or associating ourselves with Marinette Dupain-Cheng after this unfortunate situation. We shall be increasing security around the Agreste manor due to these circumstances and Adrien will be transferred to a different school in a week after revealing that he is uncomfortable with one of his former friends trying to invade his personal space and sneak into his home among other problematic things she has done in the past to gain his attention. We shall provide more information at the press conference schedule for this weekend and you may ask any questions you have there.
Marinette felt her heart sink and her body seized up. Adrien… was being transferred? Adrien was leaving ? No, no, no, no ! That couldn’t be right; he couldn’t possibly be leaving her! This has to be some sort of mistake, right?! There’s no way Adrien would possibly leave the school after begging his father to let him attend for years and years! It was his father controlling him again; it just had to be!
Immediately, Marinette tried to find Adrien’s account to message him. She gasped, finding that she was blocked and couldn’t contact him. Anxiety bubbled and brewed in her stomach as she backed away from her computer. No, no, no! Adrien couldn’t have blocked her! It was all Gabriel’s doing; he didn’t understand at all! Marinette was just trying to protect her beloved from a filthy, horrible liar that wanted to use him! She was protecting Adrien; she was keeping him safe!
She tried calling his phone, pacing around her room as she listened to the dial tone. “Come on, come on. Please answer,” Marinette quietly pleaded, chewing on her bottom lip. She needed to explain to Adrien that she wasn’t a creep—Marinette was only trying to protect Adrien. Lila was a horrible person and all she would do was fill his brain with utter nonsense and complete garbage.
We’re sorry. The number you are trying to reach has currently been disconnected—
Marinette hung up the phone, tugging on the bands in her hair. “This can’t be happening!” Marinette groaned, trying to call Adrien but the call wasn’t connecting and her texts were being blocked as well. Even on her alt accounts, Marinette was blocked from contacting or even following Adrien.
Kagami had even blocked Marinette as well.
Anxiety gripped her stomach as Marinette sank in her chair, chewing her bottom lip. What if Lila got to Adrien and Kagami and convinced them that she was a bad person? She didn’t want to lose Adrien or Kagami—well, she needed Kagami close so she could get closer to Adrien, but that was beside the point.
Marinette wasn’t expecting her parents to barge into her room. She yelped, dropping her phone and jumping up from her chair. Panic clenched her stomach as Tom and Sabine stared at their daughter, disappointment written all over their faces. She wet her bottom lip, trying to gather her words. “It’s—It’s not what it looks like,” she squeaked.
“Marinette, you were caught trying to break into that boy’s house. Honey, what in the world were you thinking?” Sabine chastised, shaking her head.
“I was only trying to protect him! I wasn’t trying to break into his house!” Marinette exclaimed. “Lila was lying and I had to tell Adrien!”
“By breaking into his house and trying to climb the wall? Marinette, that makes no sense,” Tom said, massaging his temples with a sigh. He pinched the bridge of his nose, inhaling before looking at his daughter again. “I understand that you care about this boy—Adrien—but trying to break into his house is not the answer. I don’t care what the reason is; a simple phone call or a text message would have been more than enough.”
They don't understand. They don’t understand my intentions at all! Marinette thought bitterly, squeezing her phone as she chewed on her bottom lip. Sure, her measures were a bit drastic but she did it for a good cause! Marinette was only trying to protect the one she loves! Everything she did was in the name of love!
Sabine spoke up after a brief moment of silence, clearing her throat. “Your father and I have decided to take away your devices and ground you,” she said quietly. “You are to come home after school—no hanging out with Alya or your other friends, and help in the bakery. You’ll be limited to only texting and calling me and your father when you get your phone in the morning and we’ll be taking your computer as well.”
Marinette’s jaw dropped. No, they can’t be doing this to her! She did nothing wrong; it was all Lila’s fault! If Lila hadn’t posted that picture, Marinette would be in this mess! The filthy liar was ruining her life and taking her beloved away from her!
“Mom, please! Don’t do this,” Marinette begged, watching with pleading eyes as her father crossed the room and began unhooking her computer from the wall. “It’s not what it looks like! Please believe me! I was only trying to protect Adrien from a nasty liar,” she sobbed.
“By trying to break into his house? Marinette, we raised you better than that,” Sabine cut off, holding her hand out for Marinette’s phone. “I don’t care what your reasoning is, Marinette. You shouldn’t have tried to break into his house. Now, hand me your phone and give me the password.”
Marinette sniffed, tears threatening to spill down her face as she looked to her father with those pleading eyes. She was practically begging Tom to say something, but he didn’t budge. He removed the cords and picked up the computer, cradling the device in his large arms. “You heard your mother, Marinette. Give her your phone and the password. We haven’t been good parents and look at where that got us.”
There was no point arguing with Sabine once her mind was made up. Marinette had no choice but to give up the password and her phone. Placing the device in Sabine’s awaiting palm, Marinette mumbled, “080420XX.”
“You can have your things back when you can improve your behavior,” Sabine said, letting Tom go down the stairs and then looking back at Marinette with disappointed eyes. “You will also give a formal apology to both Adrien and his father. I suggest you start working on your homework because once you’re done with that, you’re going to start helping in the bakery more often.”
“Yes, Mom,” Marinette sighed.
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The return back to school was unpleasant. All eyes were in her the minute she stepped inside and Marinette could hear people whispering and mocking her. They were calling her a stalker but Marinette wasn’t a stalker—she was just trying to protect Adrien from that horrible witch. She gritted her teeth, gripping the straps of her backpack as she found Adrien.
Ah, perfect! She could explain her actions and tell Adrien that she wasn’t a crazy, love-obsessed stalker like everyone was making her out to be. Once she cleared her name, Adrien wouldn’t leave and the two could grow closer and she would be one step closer to making him hers.
“Adrien!” Marinette called, running towards him, trying to flag him down. Of course, he was with that brat, Chloe, but she could overlook that. She didn’t matter to Marinette; all she needed to do was talk to Adrien and sort out this messy affair. “Adrien! Can we talk please?” she asked.
Chloe narrowed her eyes at the designer, standing up and folding her arms across her chest. “Why would he want to talk to you, Stalker-nette? You’re lucky he hasn’t gotten a restraining order on you,” Chloe hissed, jabbing her nail into Marinette’s collarbone.
“Chloe, that’s enough. I can handle it,” Adrien said, squeezing Chloe’s shoulder and gently pulling her back. “If it’s not too much to ask, can you give us a little space? You can come back once we’re done.”
“You’re so lucky I care about Adrien,” Chloe spat, spinning on her heel and barking for Sabrina to entertain her.
Marinette was nervous. Her cheeks were flaming red as she tried to gather her thoughts. She coughed, hitting her chest before saying, “That picture isn’t what it looks like. I—uh—I wasn’t trying to break into your house.”
“Oh really? That’s exactly what it looks like,” was Adrien’s response.
“N-No, I would never do that! I—bleh—I was just trying to—uh—trying to get a better view of the flowers! Yeah, that’s what I was doing!” Marinette laughed, nervously scratching her neck.
Adrien frowned, shifting his weight. “We don’t have flowers near the front door,” he corrected. His eyebrows were furrowed and his lips were drawn in a tight line. He didn’t even give Marinette a chance to correct her lie as he continued speaking. “Marinette, I’m going to be blunt with you: I don’t want to be your friend anymore. I don’t want to be associated with you at all.”
Marinette felt her heart stop. Her mouth slightly opened as sweat trickled down the back of her neck. “W-What? Why? I haven’t done anything wrong,” she softly said with a whimper.
“You’ve been stalking me. You have my entire schedule, you stole my phone to delete a message. I don’t even want to know what else you’ve done, but this is unhealthy,” Adrien said, taking a step away from Marinette. “I’m flattered that you like me and all, but this is creepy, Marinette. You make me feel unsafe and I can’t be around someone who steals my things and is obsessed to the point they’re trying to break into my house.”
“I wasn’t trying to break into your house!” Marinette exclaimed, unable to fight the tears that spilled down her flushed cheeks. “I was trying to protect you from Lila! She was trying to turn you against me!” she sobbed pitifully.
Adrien blinked owlishly before laughing. “So let me get this straight: you followed me home and tried to break into my house because you thought Lila was going to turn you against me? Am I hearing this right?” he asked, irritation seeping into his voice.
“She’s a liar—you and both know she is and she’s already turned the class against me. I couldn’t—I can’t lose you too,” Marinette cried.
The model shook his head, disappointed with his former friend. “Marinette, I never would have turned against you. I was your friend until that photo was posted. Be honest: were you really trying to protect me or were you trying to keep Lila away because you know she likes me and you want me all to yourself?”
She hesitated but that was enough to confirm Adrien’s suspicions.
“I’m transferring schools after this. My father also wanted me to tell you that he no longer will allow you to design for him or associate himself with you after this. He’ll be mailing your hat back to you and he’ll be filing a restraining order against you,” Adrien stated.
Marinette was full-on sobbing at this point, begging Adrien to just listen and understand why she did what she did, but it was pointless. No matter how much Marinette blubbered and cried, Adrien refused to hear any of her excuses. He was slipping through her fingers—Marinette was losing Adrien and all she could do was watch.
She didn’t care that others were watching her. Marinette couldn’t lose her beloved—all she wanted to do was protect him from that horrible siren. She never meant to harm him. Sure, she overstepped her boundaries by learning his entire schedule and stealing his phone, collecting his trash, and whatnot, but it was all for the greater good.
Or that’s what she told herself.
“Also, please do not try to contact me at all after I leave this school. That means no alternative accounts or having Alya relay messages from you to me,” Adrien added.
Then, Adrien left without another word. He left with Chloe at his side and all Marinette could do was watch with tears spilling down her burning cheeks. He was slipping away—Adrien was walking out of her life forever; he had severed their ties of friendships.
He was gone and it was all because of a stupid picture. Marinette had lost Adrien for good and she knew she had no one else to blame but herself. She lost her close friends that day and she didn’t even blame them for wanting to leave her. Her parents enrolled her in counseling and she didn’t even bother fighting them in their decision.
“It’s for the best,” is what Tom and Sabine told her.
Her chances with Adrien and her dream of the perfect happily ever after was ruined and all because of one measly photo.
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Graveyard Siblings (2)
Alright, Here is the addition to the first post I made about Marinette having a somewhat of a similar backstory to Jason.
[Masterlist]
WARNING: the Revenge part have some suicide, death, physical abuse and bullying stuff mentioned. Extreme Lila Bashing.
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Marinette runs a business called Afterlife (I am bad with names, gimme a break) with Wayne Enterprise as a partnership. She is the mysterious designer MT.
Jagged knows about Marinette and the whole LB thing after one scare and an explanation and promotes it a lot.
The Waynes can’t believe that she knew Jagged Stone.
So Afterlife brand is taking off and is the hottest new thing since Jagged is wearing it and MT is apparently the mysterious newly adopted Wayne who hasn’t appeared in public much and the family’s personal designer.
Loads of Celebrity commissions.
Gabriel loses sales as the new line they launched ‘coincided’ with the launch of Afterlife’s newest fashion line called Karma.
I should mention that Edna Mode(?) and Audrey Bourgeois gave many praises to MT because they are amazing designs and to spite Gabriel a little bit.
Gabriel doesn’t panic yet. A lie
I haven’t talked about Lila much, have I? Let’s just say she got a visit from a ghost, well, several ghosts.
Remember that guy Marinette mentioned that could get her fake documents. It was John Costantine, who owes her a favor ( he owes her more than a few and he would do anything she asked for her brownies. )
Tim and Babs dig up dirt on Lila Rossi and their silence was brought with a delicious cake.(coffee flavored for Tim)
Gets John to do a little summoning for her.
------
(Suicide implied, death, bullying, You have been warned)
“~Lila~. ~Oh Lila~”
Lila turned to her other side, wishing the voice would shut up.
“Oh, Lie-la, sleeping so peacefully. So silent. I wish you would stay that way forever.” The voice said menacingly.
Lila’s eyes snapped wide open to come face-to-face with supposed to be dead Marinette Dupain-Cheng with a manic look. Did Marinette had red eyes before?
Lila screamed.
“Oh, it’s no use. No one will hear you. Remember when you said those words. To poor Bianca. Every day at lunch break in the old unused bathrooms when you beat her up for not doing as you say.”
A girl with long dark hair appeared. Covered in black and blue bruises. Looking at Lila with hate.
“Let’s not forget. Poor Tommy. Alex. Andrea. Wil. Gary. Nico. Freya. Magnus. Della…” As Marinette listed off names, more and more teens appeared, the youngest being a 10 year old girl.
They all had the same expression as Bianca. Utter hatred.
“And there is me. The latest in your long line of victims. Lie-la, how do you feel right now, looking at the casualties of your greed for fame and fortune? Your ‘enemies’. And you know that English saying, ‘The enemy of my enemy is my friend’.” Marinette gave a sinister laugh.
“You are dead. You were all supposed to be dead. This isn't real. This isn’t real.” Lila chanted, closing her eyes and covering her ears.
She felt cold fingers lifting up her face to meet red eyes, promising many Bad things.
“Sorry, sweetie. This is the cold harsh reality. You thought that you could get away with it. The deaths you caused with your filthy lies and ‘so-call accidents’. You danced on our ashes and you built your kingdom with our blood on your hands. I hoped you enjoyed it while it lasted. ”
The nails dug further into her face, drawing some blood and sure to leave some scars.
“Because, Lila Rossi, this is the last time you would know peace. And could you pass on a message to the Agrestes for me. Tell them that Death cannot hold back the wrath of Ladybug.” Turning to the other ghosts. “Get her.”
Marinette stepped back as the other teens pounced on her. Scratching, pulling, biting. Inflicting pain on Lila. She jumped out the window and landed next to John smoking.
“Thanks for everything. Will she be okay?” Lila’s screams can’t be heard due to a soundproof charm.
“She will wake up in the morning, a little sore thinking it was all a nightmare.”
“That is until she looks into a mirror. I left a little something to remind her that it actually happened. By the way, can you help me with this curse?” She said, pulling out a notebook.
“Let me see. Hmm.. Oh.. that’s a good one. Nice. Wow...You are very creative with curses, remind me to never get on your bad side. But are you sure about that last part?”
“Lila needs a lesson and as much as I hate her and wants her to suffer for the rest of eternity. She doesn’t deserve being tormented for the rest of her life. At least, she should learn that actions have consequences, especially for everything she had done so far.”
“You are too kind despite everything that has happened, Pigtails.”
“Doesn’t mean I am going to give you the resurrection spell I used.”
“You are no fun. You are as bad as Bats.”
--------
Lila’s curse is that she sees her victims when she leasts expects it. Alya, talking about her blog, is replaced with Bianca cracking her knuckles and about to punch Lila. In everyone else, it looked Lila screamed ‘Please don’t hurt me” to a confused Alya.
Lies some more to save face but the more she lies, the more the ghosts keep appearing. Some actually hurt her but there are no bruises or cuts to prove that it happened.
She is just so jumpy all the time and during photoshoots, Adrien gets replaced with a rotting corpse and every picture comes out with fear in her eyes.
Gabriel fires her after a million complaints.
Not before relaying Marinette’s message. “She cursed me. She came into my room and did this to me (pointing to the scars on her face.) She sent my dead classmates after me.”
“Who?”
“Ladybug. She told me to tell you that even Death cannot stop Ladybug’s wrath. So better watch your back, M. Agreste.”
(Gabriel didn’t feel threaten not at all. There is no such thing as ghosts. Sure magic is real with the Kwamis and the Miraculouses as proof. But ghosts? Those are just stories. Lila Rossi just had a nightmare that was too vivid for her. He definitely is not searching Google for warding them off. Especially revenge-seeking ones. He was just looking for inspiration. That MT caused a lot of trouble and sleepless nights for Gabriel but this next line was sure to be a success.) He was wrong.
No matter how many NDAs he made people signed and how much security measures he took. Afterlife seems to hosts fashion shows, launch new lines or their designs made the cover of a famous fashion magazine and SHOWING UP the GABRIEL brand EVERY! SINGLE! TIME!
Gabriel is rarely in the headlines these days and most of the billboards in Paris is filled with products from Afterlife (Chloe as a model with a mask to conceal her identity which adds to a mystery.) or WE.
He is super frustrated and a little desperate.
------
Got any ideas for revenge on Gabriel, Natalie and Adrien? Also the rest of the class?
(Part 3)
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Claude And The Quantics Chapter 4
Hello lemon drops young and old! Today I bring to you a new chapter of Claude and The Quantics!
This would have been out sooner but my computer turned itself off and none of my drafts saved. 
Disclaimer: Line Without A Hook belongs to Ricky Montgomery. Way Less Sad belongs to AJR. Shout Out To My Ex belongs to Little Mix
---
“Stop touching the camera you idiot!”
“Make me you purple toed hippo!”
“Claude, our fans don’t want to see your disgusting nose pimples!”
“You’re right for once in your miserable life! The fans want to see my beautiful silken skin and my dashing good looks!”
Claude and Allegra had been fighting for close to thirty minutes.
It was getting exhausting.
“Stop fighting you two. You’re going to upset everyone.” Marinette chided from the back where she was setting up Claude’s drum set.
Allen stood on the outskirts of the camera, watching.
Félix came to stand by Allen. “Do you think they know the camera’s been filming this whole time?”
“Not a chance.”
---
“So uh, hey Quantic fans! This is Marinette speaking!” Marinette grinned and threw up a peace sign, winking at the camera. “Today we’ll be doing our first video concert live stream!”
Alya watched Marinette smile through the camera, a disgusted frown covering the reporter's face.
How was it that this bullying bitch became famous with a few terrible songs and a crew of idiots?
Well...Alya had never actually heard any of the Quantics’--what a terrible name--music. Alya had refused to listen to them in solidarity to Lila. They were probably terrible anyway.
Alya watched as Marinette handed the microphone to the snobby girl with a long, blonde braid.
“Hey! So today we’ll be performing the first tour song we’ve written, Way Less Sad! We wrote it while in New York for the first stop in Jagged’s tour!
The boy with darker skin, the one dressed in a green, leaned over the blonde girl’s shoulder to speak into the microphone. “Hope you enjoy!”
The Quantics began to play, And even Alya had to admit they were pretty good.
---
The second school had ended, the Quantics had bolted for Le Grand Paris. The five of them were planning their first video concert and needed everything to be perfect.
And now that they were all standing there, smiling at the camera, Marinette couldn’t even feel her nerves.
Singing calmed her in a way nothing ever had before. It was like her own personal zen garden living right there in her vocal cords.
As her friends began to play, Marinette took a deep breath and launched into the song.
Hey-hey-hey, hey-hey-hey, hey-hey-hey
Hey-hey-hey, hey-hey-hey (oh-oh-oh), hey-hey-hey
I should move 'cause New York is gettin' muddy out
There's L.A. but it's always kinda sunny out
And I don't wanna hurt no more
So I set my bar real low
Marinette couldn’t stop the grin on her face as she sang. Her friends played behind her, smiling at Marinette as she bounced around. They were happy to see her like this, joyful, excited.
When the other Quantics had first met their Mari, she was depressed and tired. Everything about her had screamed exhaustion.
I'm a-okay, I'm a-okay (ah-ah, ah-ah, ah-ah)
You say it but you just don't mean it
You're so insane, you're so insane (ah-ah, ah-ah, ah-ah)
Shut up and just enjoy this feelin'
It had taken a few weeks before Marinette had opened up to them. It had taken months before Marinette had begun to smile and laugh with them, but when she did, the ravenette was the most sunshine-y person to ever exist.
Allegra, Claude, and Allen had even taken to shielding their eyes whenever Marinette smiled. 
Don't you love it, don't you love it?
No, I ain't happy yet
But I'm way less sad
Don't you love it, don't you love it?
No, I ain't happy yet
But I'm way less sad
And Marinette was happy. She was happy with her new friends.
Hеy-hey-hey, hey-hеy-hey, hey-hey-hey
But I'm way less sad
Hey-hey-hey, hey-hey-hey (oh-oh-oh), hey-hey-hey
But I'm way less sad
I wake up and I'm not so mad at Twitter now
Livin' sucks but it's suckin' just a little now
And I don't wanna cry no more
So I set my bar real low
When Alya had decided they couldn’t be friends anymore Marinette had thought it was because she didn’t deserve the ombre-haired girl. Marinette had even begun to believe her old class when they told her she didn’t deserve to live. That she should just die.
I'm a-okay, I'm a-okay (ah-ah, ah-ah, ah-ah)
You say it but you just don't mean it
You're so insane, you're so insane (ah-ah, ah-ah, ah-ah)
Shut up and just enjoy this feelin'
But the other Quantics had helped Marinette out of her funk, they brought her back to life with their love and support.
Don't you love it, don't you love it?
No, I ain't happy yet
But I'm way less sad
Don't you love it, don't you love it?
No, I ain't happy yet (happy yet)
But I'm way less sad
I may wrong, I may be wrong
It's stupid but it's all I have
Don't you love it, don't you love it?
No, I ain't happy yet
But I'm way less sad
Well, I can't fall asleep and I'm losin' my mind
'Cause it's half-past three and my brain's on fire
I've been countin' sheep but the sheep all died
And I'm tryin' too hard but I can't not try
Well, I can't fall asleep and I'm losin' my mind
'Cause it's half-past three and my brain's on fire
I've been countin' sheep but the sheep all died
And I'm not dead yet, so I guess I'll be alright
The weeks following her isolation, Marinette couldn’t sleep. And usually, when she was feeling insomniac she would design. But with all that had been going on, Marinette couldn’t find it in herself to create anything.
That’s why she turned to writing.
Don't you love it, don't you love it?
No, I ain't happy yet
But I'm way less sad
Don't you love it, don't you love it?
No, I ain't happy yet
But I'm way less sad
I may be wrong
I may be wrong
It's stupid but it's all I have
Don't you love it, don't you love it?
No, I ain't happy yet
But I'm way less sad
Marinette finished the song with a smile on her face.
---
Holy hell.
Alya could only gape at her computer as Marinette sang.
She was good.
Really good.
And it annoyed Alya to no end.
The reporter clicked the volume up button as the next song started.
---
“Here’s our next song, sung by the ice prince himself!” Claude was grinning like a maniac as he practically screamed into the microphone.
Félix glared at the offending drummer.
“Hello. I suppose you’ll want to know the title of this song. It’s called Line Without A Hook and I wrote it for Marinette.” 
The girl in question flushed a bright red. Claude snickered.
Félix turned to smile at his girlfriend, who was shining like the sun. Félix gave her a small smile, one that was reserved only for Marinette.
Marinette returned the smile and took her place behind her boyfriend’s keyboard--he had taught her how to play while they were on tour.
I don't really give a damn about the way you touch me
When we're alone
You can hold my hand
If no one's home
Félix smiled, remembering all the times the two had fallen asleep watching a movie or just talking.
Do you like it when I'm away?
If I went and hurt my body, baby
Would you love me the same?
I can feel all my bones coming back
And I'm craving motion
Mama never really learns how to live by herself
It's a curse
And it's growing
When Félix first realized his feelings for Marinette were more than platonic, he hated it. Félix didn’t really handle his emotions very well, and he had never felt anything romantic towards another person.
You're a pond and I'm an ocean
Oh, all my emotions
Feel like explosions when you are around
And I've found a way to kill the sounds, oh
Félix gripped the microphone stand tightly. He wasn’t all that good at expressing himself. But when Félix had written this song for Marinette, even before they were dating, he had been able to poor every little piece of his soul into the words, trying so desperately to convey how he felt when he was with Marinette.
Oh, baby, I am a wreck when I'm without you
I need you here to stay
I broke all my bones that day I found you
Crying at the lake
Was it something I said to make you feel like you're a burden?
Oh, and if I could take it all back
I swear that I would pull you from the tide
Oh, whoa, whoa, whoa
I said no, I said no
Listen close, it's a no
The wind is a-pounding on my back
And I found hope in a heart attack
Oh at last, it is past
Now I've got it, and you can't have it
Once upon a time, the idea of falling in love had filled Félix with disgust. He thought the idea that someone would give themselves so entirely to another person was confusing and absurd.
But now Félix understood.
He had only been dating Marinette for a few hours, but he already wished to fight the moon and give her the stars if it made her happy.
Baby, I am a wreck when I'm without you
I need you here to stay
I broke all my bones that day I found you
Crying at the lake
Was it something I said to make you feel like you're a burden, oh
And if I could take it all back
I swear that I would pull you from the tide
Darling, when I'm fast asleep
I've seen this person watching me
Saying, "Is it worth it? Is it worth it? Tell me, is it worth it?" Oh
Guess there is something, and there is nothing
There is nothing in between
And in my eyes, there is a tiny dancer
Watching over me, he's singing
"She's a, she's a lady, and I am just a boy"
He's singing, "She's a, she's a lady, and I am just a line without a hook"
Baby, I am a wreck when I'm without you
I need you here to stay
I broke all my bones that day I found you
Crying at the lake
Was it something I said to make you feel like you're a burden, oh
And if I could take it all back
I swear that I would pull you from the tide
Marinette, with her bubbly personality and passionate words, had stolen his heart completely. And he didn’t want it back.
---
If someone that didn’t know Félix took a nice long look, they would never have come to the conclusion that he could sing. Or that he would seem so happy doing it.
But as Marinette watched Félix sing  the song he wrote for her, she noticed the way he lit up. Even standing behind him, Marinette could see the tension leave his shoulders, she could see the way he seemed to relax.
It made her smile.
And blush so much that the ravenette wasn’t sure if her face would ever take on it’s normal pale complexion again.
Marinette’s blush didn’t end when the song did, either. It stayed all throughout Allegra’s introduction to the next song--one the girls had written together.
“So, when Marinette stops looking like a tomato, we have a new song that us girls wrote about stupid boys. But...I’m not sure Marinette’s feeling the whole ‘stupid boy’ shtick right now. So, up next is Shout Out To My Ex!”
Allegra smirked and winked at the camera. Then she nudged Marinette, who’s blush had thankfully begun to die down.
The blonde girl smiled like a shark and began the song.
This is a shout out to my ex
Heard he in love with some other chick
Yeah yeah, that hurt me, I'll admit
Forget that boy, I'm over it
Allegra smiled flirtatiously at the camera and raised the microphone back to her glossed lips.
I hope she gettin' better sex
Hope she ain't fakin' it like I did, babe
Took four long years to call it quits
Forget that boy, I'm over it
Marinette flipped her hair over her shoulder as she took the microphone from Allegra, feeling far more confident now that a mic was back in her hands.
Guess I should say thank you
For the hate yous and the tattoos
Oh baby, I'm cool by the way
Ain't sure I loved you anyway
Go 'head, babe, I'mma live my life, my life, yeah
Marinette couldn’t help but think of Adrien, her lost love. The one who got away. The one who didn’t truly love her. Even if they had never really dated, Adrien would always be considered a sort of ex for her.
Allegra threw her arm over Marinette’s shoulder and pulled her close so they could share the microphone between them.
Shout out to my ex, you're really quite the man
You made my heart break and that made me who I am
Here's to my ex, hey, look at me now
Well, I, I'm all the way up
I swear you'll never bring me down
Shout out to my ex, you're really quite the man
You made my heart break and that made me who I am
Here's to my ex, hey, look at me now
Well, I'm, I'm all the way up
I swear you'll never, you'll never bring me down
Allegra took the microphone and moved to stand on the other side of the stage, hand on her hip.
Oh, I deleted all your pics
Then blocked your number from my phone
Yeah yeah, you took all you could get
But you ain't getting this love no more
'Cause now I'm living so legit
Allegra flicked her braid over her shoulder, smiling like the cat that got the cream.
Even though you broke my heart in two, baby
But I snapped right back, I'm so brand new, baby
Boy, read my lips, I'm over you, over you, uh
When Adrien told Marinette to take the high road her crush had shriveled up in on itself and jumped off a bridge.
But she bounced back, she had better friends who cared about her. And Félix, who liked her and appreciated her.
And she loved him far more than she had ever loved Adrien
Guess I should say thank you
For the "hate yous" and the tattoos
Oh baby, I'm cool by the way
Ain't sure I loved you anyway
Go 'head, babe, I'mma live my life, my life, yeah
Shout out to my ex, you're really quite the man
You made my heart break and that made me who I am
Here's to my ex, hey, look at me now
Well, I'm, I'm all the way up
I swear you'll never bring me down
Shout out to my ex, you're really quite the man
You made my heart break and that made me who I am
Here's to my ex, hey, look at me now
Well, I'm, I'm all the way up
I swear you'll never, you'll never bring me down
You'll never bring me down
The music slowed.
Shout out to my ex, you're really quite the man
You made my heart break and that made me who I am
Here's to my ex, hey, look at me now
Well, I'm all the way up
I swear you'll never, you'll never bring me down
Shout out to my ex, you're really quite the man
Marinette belted out the next part as Allegra continued with the chorus.
You're quite the man
You made my heart break and that made me who I am
Here's to my ex, hey, look at me now
Well, I'm, I'm all the way up, I swear you'll never bring me down
Allegra and Marinette exchanged a small smile, and for the first time on stage, it wasn’t flirty or blinding or meant for the audience.
You'll never bring me down
Shout out to my ex, you're really quite the man
You made my heart break and that made me who I am
Here's to my ex, hey, look at me now
Won't you just look at me now
Well, I'm, all the way up
I swear you'll never, you'll never bring me down
You'll never bring me down
Marinette let Adrien go as the song ended. It was a wonderful feeling.
Allegra was breathing heavily as she screamed at the camera, “Yeah! Fuck you James!”
“Allegra! There are children watching!”
---
Masterlist
Taglist:
@vixen-uchiha @apasponsor @clumsy-owl-4178 @queen-of-rants @bonusbuggy @pendoodlex @ravennm84 @corporeal-terrestrial @lady-bee-fechin @casual-darkness @buginetye @fan-written @aespades @ladybug-182
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sturchling · 3 years
Note
Hey I was wondering if you could do a fan fiction where Lila and marinette were actually best friends but were faking to see who were good friends or not. If you do , do it pls take your time I don’t want to rush you
Also look at the taco I made
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Sorry this took so long! I know you said not to rush, but still! Thanks for being patient! Hope you like it, and that is a interesting looking taco. Definitely different from my family's style of taco! Hope you enjoy the story!
Marinette had been attending a creative arts summer program for several years. The program was based out of London and kids from all over Europe would attend for different styles of creative arts. Marinette's grandmother would always make sure to be in London during the month of this program and Marinette would stay with her while the program was happening. Marinette often found herself excited for this one month away from Paris. Sure she loved being with her parents and friends, but it was nice to get away to a place nobody knew you for a while. She never even told her class where she went for that one month out of the summer. It was great.
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Marinette made a lot of friends at the program, but she loved to hang out with Lila. She was studying theater at the program while Marinette studied fashion design. Lila was always so fun to hang out with, and they would spend hours just working on their different projects. Marinette working on her newest design, while Lila refined her monologues. Marinette was always amazed by Lila's acting. Its like she became a completely different person with each new piece Lila was practicing. It was very impressive.
------------------
Over the last few years, Marinette was starting to feel as though her friends in Paris weren't real friends. She started to notice how they only really wanted to hang out when they needed her to design or bake something. And they would often ask for things last minute, not thinking about Marinette's schedule, or even offering to pay for the supplies. Marinette didn't want to think that of her classmates, but it was getting difficult to ignore. Especially this year, because the amount of requests they had made had nearly tripled. Marinette was thrilled when it was time to head to her summer program and she could get away from Paris for a while.
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Lila noticed pretty quickly that Marinette seemed different this year. She seemed more down, and more quiet then previous years. "Marinette? Is something wrong? You seem quiet..." Marinette snapped out of her trance and looked up at Lila. "Sorry Lila, I'm alright.." Lila put down her script, and sat down next to Marinette. "Come on Marinette. I can tell when you are lying. There is a reason I am in the acting program and you aren't." That got Marinette to laugh a little and for a moment she was just the happy Marinette that Lila knew. But the smile quickly faded. "Ok, I'll tell you." Marinette told Lila everything. How the class had been treating her and all of her doubts. "I just don't know if they really think of me as a friend, or if they are just using me. And I don't want to ask, because if they do think of me as a friend, I could offend them by asking. I just don't know what to do!" Lila thought for a moment, unsure of how to help her friend. She went home to think about it for the night, when her mother gave her the best news.
-----------------
The next day, Lila rushed to Marinette and told her the news. "What? Your mom said you guys are moving to Paris for a year? That's awesome!" Lila was smiling, happy to see Marinette smiling. "And, best of all, we can fix these doubts. I can pretend to be the world's worst liar. I'll try and trick the class into believing my lies, and if they fall for it, then I will try to convince them to ditch you in exchange for favors and VIP treatment. If they ditch you, then they weren't really your friends and you will know for sure. If they don't, then they really care about you and you won't have to worry anymore." Marinette agreed to the plan, and they started to plan out all the little details and the lies Lila would use on the class. By the time the program was over for the summer and Marinette returned to Paris, they had a perfect plan. All that was left was to wait for school to start.
-----------------
The school year had started, and Lila had just arrived. She wasted no time and started to wow the students with all of her 'amazing achievements'. Soon the whole school was fawning over her, with hardly any effort on Lila's part. Lila was thankfully in Mrs. Bustier's class, so that would make the plan much easier. Just as they discussed, Marinette spent most of the next few weeks trying to tell everyone that Lila was lying to them, to see if they would believe Lila or Marinette. When Marinette first voiced her concerns this past summer, Lila was sure her friend was just overthinking things. Sure the class was obviously inconsiderate from what Marinette had told Lila, but she was sure the class really thought of Marinette as a friend.
-------------------
Oh, how quickly Lila was proven wrong. It only took a few weeks for the entire class to very clearly side with Lila. They told Marinette that she was just jealous of Lila and that Lila wasn't lying. While Lila's hope for the class was diminishing with each passing day, she clung to the hope that maybe the class was just gullible, but would stick with Marinette when it mattered. Now that the class had obviously decided to believe Lila, the two girls moved to the next stage of the plan. Lila started to tell the class that Marinette was harassing and bullying her. She offered the class no proof of these claims, just told them it happened. And to Lila's surprise, the class instantly believed her and dumped Marinette immediately. They isolated Marinette and nobody would talk to her. All because Lila said so.
-----------------
Lila was truly horrified. She couldn't believe that Marinette's class ditched her like that. After talking it over with Marinette, they decided on one more test. Just to be sure that the class had truly sided with Lila for her 'connections and favors'. Lila was going to 'apologize' and reveal to the class that she had been lying and she didn't know all these people. But that was the only lie she would reveal. She would stick by what she said about Marinette bullying her. Would the class continue to defend Lila against a bully? Would they apologize to Marinette for believing a liar? Or would they instantly go back to Marinette like nothing happened?
--------------------
The next day, Lila made the reveal. She told the class she lied about her celebrity connections, made a tearful and sincere apology, said that she had just thought no one would like her so she made herself seem more important to help make friends, but made it clear that Marinette was bullying her. "I am really sorry! I was just scared about moving to a new country and was desperate to make friends. But Marinette figured it out and has been so mean to me ever since, so I was afraid how you guys would react if I told you. But you guys have been so nice, I really hope we can stay friends and I will do anything to make it up to you guys!" The class' reaction was instant. They instantly turned their backs on Lila and made her the class outcast. While that is bad, if they had apologized to Marinette, that would have made it kind of ok. But instead, they just started talking to Marinette again. They tried to act like nothing happened and they hadn't ditched Marinette for a liar. Like they hadn't believed a girl they hardly knew over their 'close friend'. Like they hadn't thought the worst in Marinette just because of Lila. That was the final straw for Marinette. It was clear to her that the class didn't really think of her as a friend. Or at the very least, they didn't treat her like a friend. And Marinette was done with it.
-----------------
Marinette decided to leave Dupont behind completely. She and Lila revealed their real plan to the class and left the school for good. She switched to a different school in the city that had a fantastic arts program. With her portfolio, the school quickly accepted her. Marinette was in her new school by Monday. Lila switched with her, and the two girls spent the rest of Lila's year in Paris having a great time at their new school. When it was time for Lila to leave, Marinette saw her and her mother to the airport, promising to see Lila at the summer program in two weeks. As she got back to the bakery one day, right before she left for London, she saw the class standing outside. They tried to apologize and ask to be friends again, but Marinette shut that down fast. "No. I am not coming back to Dupont, and we aren't friends anymore. It isn't just about Lila. Lila just made it clear that we haven't been friends for a very long time. I am happy at my new school. I have found real friends, that treat me like a friend would. And its all thanks to my real best friend, Lila. Now, please go. I have to pack for the summer." With that, Marinette went inside and closed the door on her old fake friends.
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spicetheghostcat · 2 years
Text
I’ve related to Marinette since pretty early on in the show and I think it’s because she seems like she has depression, anxiety, and adhd. This really hit me when she started having a panic attack in the finale.
I am by no means a medical professional, but I did do a lot of research when I was trying to self diagnose before getting official diagnoses and I have personal experience as well as knowing about the experiences of people close to me.
Marinette is shown to be very forgetful. She tends to rush out the door without the things she needs, typically late because she forgot there was something she needed to attend. Her tendency for poor time management is not helped by how easily she gets distracted, or involved in her work. She has a very wide range of obsessions, which is made especially clear when she declares that she is going to do EVERYTHING in Wishmaker. She’s quite socially awkward and seems to have difficulty explaining her thoughts to others. She also tends to be very chatty and rambly and has trouble regulating both this and her volume (she tends to get very loud when she is excited). She has difficulty thinking things all the way through and tends to miss important details. However, when she is very focused on a task (such as when she is fighting an akuma as ladybug), she has excellent problem solving skills and pays attention to every detail. She’s very creative, which is indicated by her hobbies almost all having to do with design. She’s very sporadic, jumping from thought to thought or task to task very quickly, and others have trouble following her train of thought. She also has anger issues and gets frustrated by small matter very easily. These are all symptoms of adhd, and there are almost certainly more things I missed.
Marinette also struggles initiate things, not so much in a schoolwork sense but more that she has a lot of trouble making phone calls, talking to people, or similar. She tends to get a bit panicked over these kinds of scenarios. Marinette also has a desperate need to get things done on time, as shown in Gamer 2.0 when she has to force herself to do everything she needs to and panics about not having things finished on time. She tends to overreact, overthink, and assume the worst, shown by how any time she makes a mistake, she treats it like the end of the world, and often refuses to go forward with things due to her intense fear of what could go wrong. She’s perfectionistic, and will spend time putting in much more effort than is necessary to make things fit her standards (although this is often counteracted by her adhd, which makes her rush over things just to get them finished, like when she made sunglasses for Jagged Stone). These are all indicators that she has anxiety, but the biggest one is that we’ve seen her have anxiety attacks and panic attacks a few times. (Not to mention she definitely seems to be one of the most empathetic when Juleka has panic attacks).
Marinette, in addition to everything else, clearly suffers from depression as a result of trauma, namely due to her role as ladybug and as a guardian but also due to being bullied for years. She is constantly putting herself down, and she often feels as though she is worthless, a failure, not good enough. She tends to feel hopeless and she cries easily. She shows a lack of interest in things she used to enjoy, coupled with often having little or no energy. We see these things in the lessening of her playing video games, designing clothes, even spending time with her friends.
It seems pretty clear that although she might already have dealt with anxiety, it has largely developed due to her adhd. Most of her anxious tendencies are ones that overcompensate for her adhd. For example, she always quickly corrects herself when she stumbles over her words, either repeating herself or finding a replacement, which seems indicative of being worried about what others will think of her for what she accidentally says (which seems very likely considering she’s had instances of misspeaking and then being laughed at and getting embarrassed).
It’s also worth noting that she has some symptoms that could be attributed to multiple things, such as being easily startled, assuming others think badly of her, having trouble starting things she needs to work on, and more.
Overall our girl needs therapy and I love her and am glad that in season four her mental health and adrien’s are treated with seriousness instead of using it as a joke like some media does (*coughlookingatyouendgamethorcough*)
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artxyra · 3 years
Text
The Story Of How Marinette Became Mamie Mars
Marinette had been in the Bahamas enjoying her vacation when she received the phone call. It was Bruce. Upon hearing her son’s, in everything but blood, voice, she had sat up on her lounge chair and swing her legs to the side. 
Bruce couldn’t speak coherently. That’s how much he had worried her. It’s not often that she would get a call from a panicking Bruce, especially on her vacation. 
“Brucie, honey, calm down and speak clearly.” Her voice was sweet enough to calm her son down. “Is Alfred nearby you?” She asks, knowing that her son’s surrogate father would be close. Then again, Alfred was scheduled for his vacation soon. 
“No, he’s tending the reason why I’m calling you. I may or may not have taken in a ward.” Bruce tells her, sounding off. 
The words slowly register in her mind. 
“I have a grandchild.” She squeals, so glad that she was sitting down instead of standing up. It’s already embarrassing that her squeal reached the others at the beach. Had she been standing, she would be dancing along with the squeal had she been standing up. “Oh Bruce, tell me about them? How are they adjusting?” 
“That’s the problem, mom! I have no clue what to do. Can you come home? I rather explain all this to you in person rather than on the phone.” She can sense the longing and desperation in his voice. It warms her heart that he still needs her. 
“Of course, I’ll be on the next flight out of here. Is there anything else that you want to talk about?” 
Bruce murmurs a yes. And they go into a discussion more about business rather than the newest Wayne addition.  
As Marinette books a plane ticket for the last flight of the night, she couldn’t help but think about her son’s ward. Never have Bruce expressed any thought about having children due to him being Batman. Though, she herself has thought about taking in another child. However, Marinette’s ability to have her body age slowly has been a blessing and a curse and keeps her from going through with it. It’s a blessing because she has a chance to look younger and experience more but it’s a curse as it means that she’ll live longer and see the people she cares about dying before her. 
Nearly six hours after booking her flight, she is on a three-hour flight to New Jersey. Her vacation ended the second her butt touched the seat of the plane. It was a lovely time off from everything in Gotham, her ever-growing business dubbed Miracles Designs & Crafts, and her duties as the guardian of the Miraculous, but family always comes first. 
“Alfred! It’s so good to see you again.” Marinette wraps her arms around the man. He returns the hug. 
“I as well, Miss Marinette.” He responds once the embrace ends, taking her bags and loading them into the car. Marinette pouts; she could have done it herself, but she doesn’t say a word. 
The drive was sweet as the two begins to catch up. Alfred enjoyed hearing about her adventures outside of the United States. Though, he fears what Bruce will say about her travel to Tibet. 
“So, tell me Alfred, what are your thoughts on our son’s ward?” She inquires, looking out the window. The sky never changes in Gotham, but it certainly is a vast difference from the sunshine and clear skies that she was experiencing in the Bahamas. 
“He’s determined.” Alfred states with a glance at her in the rear window. Marinette nods and continues to look out the window. 
Meeting her grandchild could have gone many ways, but him winging on the chandelier was not something she was expecting. He seemed to be mourning, like him swinging on the chandelier was holding him together. 
Bruce sends the boy a quick word then escorts her to the living room. The second the door closes, Bruce breaks down what happened. The boy’s name is Richard Grayson, but he likes to go by Dick. Of course, Marinette gasps upon hearing that, as she has never been around a person who calls themselves Dick. And that he was a part of the circus with his family until their demise. Dick has no family outside of the circus. There was also a chance that he’ll be the target for a mob boss. 
After hearing the basics of Dick’s situation, all she wanted to do was hug the boy and give him lots of love. The same as she has done for Bruce. 
“When can I officially meet my grandson?” She questions with a smile on his face. Bruce rubs the back of his neck and sends her a sheepish smile. Wrapping his arms around his surrogate mother, he guides her towards the double doors. 
“Hi, I’m Marinette, but you can call me Mamie, if you want.”
Dick looks up at her, swaying in place, “Mamie?”
Marinette chuckles. “It’s one of the French versions of saying grandma.” 
“Cool, but you don’t look like you’re old enough to be a grandma.” Behind them, Bruce fails at holding in a chuckle. Marinette purses her lip and keeps her eyes on Dick, even though she wanted to send her son a glare. 
“Yeah, I do, but don’t be fooled. I practically raised Bruce since he was eight. Now, what do you like to do for fun?” She nudges him to talk about himself, hoping that it will help from sending him down a mourning spiral. 
Bruce disappears after that, hunting down the person that sabotaged the tightrope and giving Dick his closure. 
Once Dick is asleep, Marinette finds herself in the cave, watching her son’s nonstop researching process. 
“You know spending time with Dick would really make him feel welcome.” Marinette pulls up a seat and sits beside him. 
“I can’t.  Zucco is out there, and if I can’t find him before he leaves Gotham…” Bruce trails off, turning his attention back to the screen. 
Marinette shakes her head, “At least try and get to know Dick before you do something stupid. There’s only so much that I can do, but I wasn’t the one that took him in, Bruce.” Marinette turns to Alfred and gestures her head towards Bruce. 
“I saw that, mom.” Marinette scoffs then gets out of her seat. “I promise that I’ll hang out with Dick before all this is over.” 
“And somehow, that doesn’t make me feel that much better. He’s your problem now, Alfie.” Marinette takes her to leave, grabbing a cup of tea from Alfred before leaving the Batcave.  
“Joy.” Alfred sighs, but there was an underlying hint of love there. 
Life with Dick in the household was an interesting transition, especially for Marinette. Usually, when she's here, it’s silent, as Bruce is either working as Batman or being for Wayne Enterprise. The only sounds were her and Alfred talking during their afternoon tea sessions. With Dick, the manor is full of laughter and ambitious feet, running around; practically, Mimicking the sounds of the past. 
With Marinette in the house, Dick didn’t feel so alone. Even though he didn’t have it in him to call Bruce dad yet, he'd definitely called Marinette Mamie on more than one occasion. When it first happened, she cried. Poor Dick, he thought she was upset or something. That day, she took them out for ice cream and to the gymnasium. 
Marinette did not hide her disdain when Dick became Robin. There were a lot of baked goods in the kitchen from her stress baking. It got so bad that Alfred had to ban her from the kitchen. 
Of course, once she did become comfortable with the idea of Dick out crime-fighting, she places strict rules in place so that Dick wasn’t out late at night on a school day or dealing with highly classed villains. Marinette had her fair share of fighting crime as a child, and she did not want to place that down on Dick. 
On top of that, she refused to have Dick going out at night in underwear in the name of pants. That was a big no-no in this household. 
Bonus: 
“Mamie Mars, has there ever been a time you benched Bruce?” Dick asks one day while Marinette was helping him with his homework. 
Marinette thinks for a moment. “Yes, it was within his first year of being Batman, actually. He challenged me and you know how I am when challenge, Dickie. Gotham was without their hero, excuse me, vigilante for about a month. Ladybird sure had a fun time in his stead.” She chuckles at the memory, causing Dick’s eyes to widen. He quickly finishes the rest of his homework.
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marauderundercover · 3 years
Text
Taking Chances Chapter 6: Let’s Play a Game (Overprotection)
Prev
AO3
Marinette ended up not staying for dinner. She talked to Bruce for a little bit, but he had to leave for some WE emergency and Marinette wasn’t really up to bonding with the boys- her brothers- yet. But that was fine. It wasn’t like she was desperate to get to know the man and wouldn’t be able to after this trip because she had to stay in Paris because of Hawkmoth. No, she wasn’t upset. Not at all. It didn’t hurt her feelings. Nope.
---
Walking into Madame Soleil's Wax Museum with Adrien by her side, Marinette is hit with a major wave of deja vu. And not a good deja vu. No, the memories of the last time she was in a wax museum with Adrien were awful, humiliating and- feeling a hand wrap around hers pulls her from her spiraling thoughts. Glancing down, Marinette tries (and fails) to hide her grin. Adrien is holding her hand. Adrien is holding her hand!
“Hey Marinette!” A familiar voice calls, a hand squeezing her shoulder, making Marinette squeal and whirl around.
“Dick? What are you doing here?” She asks, frowning at the boy- her brother- as he stands there with a huge smile.
“Well I heard that a new wax figure is being revealed today, and I thought I might come and see it.” He says with a nonchalant shrug.
“Really? Who?” Adrien asks. Dick’s smile twitches slightly as he glances at Marinette, making her frown. Was he seriously about to play the overprotective big brother card? Really?
“Jagged Stone.” Dick finally says, glancing at their entwined hands. Marinette tries hard not to roll her eyes. Come on, her crush is finally holding her hand and her brother (who she’s known for a day!) is seriously trying to ruin that for her?
“Oh cool! Do you think he’ll come to Gotham to see it, Mari?” Adrien asks.
“I think he’s definitely scheduled to make an appearance in Gotham in the next couple days. He’s picking up his new suit in person.” She whispers, grinning at the idea of seeing her “Uncle” in person again. He’d been touring for several months and she hadn’t been able to see him for awhile, just the occasional video call.
“So! What figures did you guys want to check out first?” Dick asks, wedging himself between the two and forcing Adrien to drop her hand. Glaring at her brother, Marinette scoffs when Dick just smiles innocently.
“The hall of heroes and villains sounds cool.” Adrien suggests, looking around Dick to see Marinette.
“Hmm. Okay, but if the Nightwing figure is in his disco costume, I reserve the right to melt the statue.” She says, frowning at the choked noise Dick makes. “Are you okay?” She adds.
“Oh, uh, yeah, yeah I’m fine. What’s 1so bad about that costume?” He asks, a hurt expression on his face.
“Have you even seen it? The only worse costume is Riddler’s.” Marinette says, adding a shudder for dramatic effect. Walking past the local celebrities room and the pop stars room, Marinette’s eyes widen as their small group walks into the hall of heroes and villains. Walking away from Dick and Adrien, she’s almost instantly drawn to the Batman figure. She reads the little plaque about the artist and frowns, turning to Dick who had moved to stand next to her.
“I thought it’d be taller.” She says, scrunching her eyebrows in confusion when Dick starts choking on air, gasping for breath as broken chuckles flood out of him. “Ookay then.” She mutters, turning and walking back towards the villains. Nightwing was, luckily, depicted in his most recent costume. As was Robin. Which meant the only real fashion tragedy (besides the god awful helmet Red Hood wore) was the Riddler. Pulling her sketchbook out, Marinette circles the wax figure, occasionally making notes and sketching out slight adjustments to the man’s costume.
“His costume might be terrible, but it’s still better than half of the akumas.” Adrien whispers, leaning over her shoulder. Marinette looks up at him, eyes wide as her face heats up with a blush.
“I, uh, um, yes. Yeah.” She says, trying not to wince at her lack of speaking skills. “I mean, at least we can rule out any fashion designer in Paris as Hawkmoth. Because if Hawkmoth was a designer, that’d almost be a bigger crime.” She adds, smiling as Adrien laughs.
“Good to know you’re not moonlighting as Hawkmoth, m’lady.” He says with a mock bow. Marinette snorts, then covers her mouth, embarrassment rushing over her. Adrien just shakes his head, wrapping an arm over her shoulders.
“In case you forgot, we’ve definitely seen each other at our most embarrassing.” He says, making her groan.
“Oh god, no. I tied us up with my yoyo!” She moans, turning and burying her face into his chest so she doesn’t have to look at him anymore. Her face heats up more when she feels him chuckle and wrap his arms around her.
“I’ve always thought that was paw-sitively adorable.” He says, laughing when she groans again. She pulls away slightly, looking up at him with a timid smile. He smiles back, starts to lean forward and-
“Hey guys! I heard they’re about to unveil the Jagged Stone figure. Come on, let’s go! Don’t wanna miss it.” Dick says, grabbing each of their hands and pulling them towards the exist (and successfully separating them again). Marinette tries not to glare at Dick. She’s about to have one less brother.
---
Dick Grayson wasn’t used to having a little sister that he could protect. Sure, he had a little sister. Cas was awesome, but she could also kick his ass without breaking a sweat. No, he’d never had a little sister to protect. Someone he could watch out for and support. But now….now he has Marinette. And he’ll be damned if he lets some little punk take advantage of his little sister. Ignoring Marinette’s glare, he positions himself right between her and...the boy. He’d need to ask Timmy to do a background check on the kid later. Especially if he thought he was good enough for Marinette.
“So are you guys big Jagged fans?” He asks, trying to pull the two back into a conversation. He narrows his eyes at the smile the kid gives Marinette. It’s too...adoring. Too much. She’s only...what, fourteen? Much too young to date. Especially this kid.
“Mari’s a bit of a fan, I think. But, personally, I much prefer Jagged’s designer.” He says, and Dick turns to him, missing the way Marinette’s face turns bright red.
“Are you talking about MDC? I love them! Their work is amazing! And Jagged Stone says that he’ll never have another designer. I heard that there’s a possibility of them opening their commissions again. God, I hope they do. I’d do anything for something made by MDC.” Dick rambles with a wide smile, deciding to ignore the kid for a minute in order to ramble about his favorite designer. As the group walks into the pop star room, Dick steps back and glares at the kid. He’d stepped just behind Dick and was apparently trying to hold Marinette’s hand again. Not on his watch. No siree. No one’s gonna hurt his little sister.
---
Bruce sighs, running his hands through his hair. He’d been checking the street cameras in Paris, trying to figure out what time Ladybug and Chat Noir patrol so that he can set up a meeting. Try and offer help, or maybe even offer to take control of the situation. Anything to get rid of Hawkmoth. But instead, it was like the heroes didn’t exist. He’d read reports of the heroes patrolling before, so why were they so quiet this week? The only akuma from the past couple days wasn’t even taken care of by both of them. Ladybug did it alone, and seemed worse for the wear when she came out of the battle. Where was Chat Noir? And why did it seem as though they had gone into hiding?
---
Marinette was five seconds away from committing her first murder. Okay, probably her only murder, unless her other brothers decide to be as involved in her love life as Dick is. Because Dick won’t have the chance to be a problem for much longer. Because Marinette was honestly going to kill him. Right as she turned to finally yell at him, and tell him to knock it off, the lights flickered. She pauses her tirade, glancing to gauge Dick’s reaction to see if this is normal. And if his worried glances back at her are anything to go by, this is not normal.
“Let’s play a game! Solve my riddles and you all can leave freely, but make a mistake and someone will pay greatly! Take one out and scratch my head, I am now black but once was red. What am I?” A man’s voice asks, Marinette frowning as the Riddler walks in, a wide smile on his face. Ten goons walk in behind him, all of them carrying guns. She was used to the akuma attacks almost every day, but didn’t Gotham’s rogues have anything better to do than attack every place her class went? With guns? Come on. Riddler smirks and points at Adrien with his cane.
“A match.” She blurts out, ignoring Dick frantically shaking his head. If nothing else, she should be able to work with Adrien to get everyone out. But she knew his style. And riddles weren’t really his thing.
“Oh goody. We have a volunteer. Tell me, what has to be broken before you can use it?” Riddler asks, stalking towards her. Thinking for a second, Marinette tries to suppress a smile.
“An egg.” She says. Riddler narrows his eyes.
“I have 13 hearts, but no lungs or stomach. What am I?” He asks, Marinette frowns, running through possible answers in her head.
“A deck of cards.” She finally says.
“Buzzy, come over here and hold onto our friend.” Riddler says, gesturing to one of the goons. The man comes over and grabs Marinette’s arm roughly, she winces. That’ll definitely bruise.
“I answered your riddles.” Marinette says, deciding that now's as good a time as any to start distracting the man.
“And how did you answer them so quickly?” He asks, the frustration clear on his face.
“What do you mean? Were they supposed to be hard?” Marinette taunts, ignoring the choked sound Dick makes behind her. She knew what she was doing. She did. She had to.
“Why you-” Riddler starts, stepping forward and pulling his hand back as if to hit her. Squeezing her eyes shut, Marinette waits for the slap. The slap never comes. Opening her eyes, Marinette’s jaw drops when she sees the Riddler’s fist held tightly in Dick’s hand.
“Don’t. Touch. Her.” He says lowly, a dark look on his face. Well that was unexpected. Riddler opens his mouth, probably to start spouting more riddles or other nonsense, when the goons blocking the exits drop. Noticing Red Robin and Red Hood picking off the other goons, Marinette throws her elbow back into the gut of the goon holding her. Not waiting for him to recover, Marinette stomps his foot and twists out of his grip. Grabbing his arm, Marinette manages to yank the man off balance and toss him to the ground. A hand on her shoulder makes her jump back and prepare to hit the person.
“Whoa, whoa, it’s okay ma’am.” The voice attached to the hand says. Marinette whirls around, ready to tell off the person, but immediately stops when she sees Red Robin.
“Sorry!” She yelps, jumping away from him. And she was too. She was determined to hit the person who grabbed her shoulder, so locked into battle mode, but she had managed to stop herself. Glancing around the room, Marinette notices Dick talking to Red Hood, his usual smile back on his face. That’s good. That’s normal, that’s right. The sudden blaring of the akuma alarm makes Marinette want to scream in frustration. Really, right now? It’s definitely already dark in Paris which means- Chat Noir. Ignoring everyone else, Marinette runs over to Adrien and grabs his hand.
“Akuma?” He asks, his voice low. She nods and tugs him towards the bathrooms, unaware of the eyes following them out.
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random1amfics · 3 years
Text
Demon Tyrant of France (2)
Lila had a great week. The class was wrapped around her finger and that baker's girl can't do anything about it as Adrien seemed to be keeping her in line with that promise. Poor girl was desperate to do anything for her crush. Today, she will spin some tales of how Marinette was really mean to her offer of friendship and maybe get her so call 'friends' to punish her bad behaviour by destroying the girl's phone for her awful texts. As she skipped to the school, she didn't notice the tense air the other students seemed to have. She saw Alya, her ticket to increasing her fame, arguing with her boyfriend, Nino. He could be useful when she needs music for a party.
"I don't care if this Demon Tyrant person is powerful. We don't need another Chloe Bourgeois in our class. I am not going to stand for her tormenting us."
"Babe, listen, the Demon Tyrant will mostly ignore us because according to her, we are just mere insects. As long as we don't provoke her or anger her, we will be fine. The only thing I am worried about is whether or not you would get into trouble, you did some bad things to her recently and I really hope she is feeling generous."
"I couldn't have done things to someone I have never heard of until today."
"Oh, she had been in our class for the past 2 years. Apparently, she and a friend of hers had a bet on who can be kind for the longest. The bet was over last night. Chloe sent us about it last night."
"I never read what Miss Bully says."
"Excuse me," Lila cuts in, "What are you talking about? Who is the Demon Tyrant? She sounds bad."
"I will tell you on the way. Classes are about to start. But whatever you do, under any circumstances, do not, I mean, absolutely DO NOT talk to her unless she permits it."
The more Lila hears about the Demon Tyrant, the more she begins to envy the power she has over the school. Lila wondered which of her classmates was the Demon Tyrant. Could be Chloe but she can't be it, she had not been nice to their classmates at all. The one with the Roller Skates? She seemed to fit the Demon Tyrant name with the pink hair and roller skates but sometimes she didn't act nice. The Pink Blondie? She acts so nice and sickeningly sweet that she wouldn't be surprised if it was a facade.
She walked into the classroom, as confidently as she can to impress the so-called Demon Tyrant. Whoever she is, might want connections to spread her sphere of influence and they can rule together.
Lila and Alya saw Marinette with a complete makeover wearing a golden 'crown' that looked legit, looking down on the class like they were peasants from her high seat in the back. Their mouths hung open as Kim and a few others came, bearing offerings which they presented to her.
Lila gritted her teeth. Of course, that goody-two-shoes were the Demon Tyrant who ruled the school. At least now it will be easier to take all her friends away. She plastered a concerned face.
"Marinette, what are you doing? Demanding things from your friends? Friends shouldn’t expect things from their friends like that, especially something as expensive as that crown.” “First of all, Rossi, don’t call me by my name, I only allow certain people to call me that and you are not on that small list. Second of all, I didn’t ask for anything from them. They are called gifts. It was rather hypothetical of you to tell me not to expect free stuff from ‘friends’ when just last week, you basically demanded free pastries from the bakery. And lastly, this diadem ”-she gestured towards it-“is actually mine. I paid for it full price with my hard-earned money. I have a receipt if you don’t believe me. Since you are still new, I shall let it pass this time. But you will not speak to me unless necessary or with my permission.” Marinette said with a cold, icy voice.
“I can’t believe you are so mean to me. I just want to be friends and I am so worried about you when you are dressed like that.” Lila faked a few tears to sell the act. It’s perfect. She didn’t have to try so hard now that Marinette is doing a nice job by herself.
“I believe I have told you not to speak to me. Another word to me and I will make you deeply regret it.”
Alya spoke up, not liking Marinette’s new attitude, “Girl, Lila was just looking out for you. Don’t brush off her concerns and stop being so mean. I will admit I am worried about this new look too.”
“Cesaire, I will give you the same warning as Rossi there. You aren’t allowed to speak to me unless I say otherwise. Why should I change based on some people’s opinion of me? I am not mean, I am indifferent and cold to people. Haven’t you heard I am the Demon Tyrant? It’s part of the package. Life isn’t a fairytale and they all live happily ever after. Lila should be used to hearing cold, hurtful truths. After all, the famous deal with them all the time.” Marinette said with a bored expression on her face, already deeming this a waste of her breath.
Lila burst into tears and Alya was the only one to comfort her as the others were frozen in their seats and made no moves. Terrified for the backlash of helping the 2 girls. Even Nino, who loved Alya very much but prayed to every deity he knew to grant his headstrong, stubborn, justice-seeking girlfriend some common sense. She was playing with fire now and she was going to get burned badly.
Lila sobbed loudly, ”But I am not lying.”
“Marinette! Stop this at once. You can drop the act now. I don't know what you are trying to prove. Being a better Chloe? And we are best friends, we don’t need permission to speak to each other. Lila doesn’t lie. How could you say those things? Just because you are jealous, doesn’t mean you should do it. She is very sensitive.”
The Demon Tyrant grinned. It instinctively made everyone move away from her and Alya, who took a step back.
“Oh. Alya. Alya. Alya.” The first name means that the reporter had poked the Demon too much and now, she was annoyed. The Tyrant walked down, towards the two girls.
“You poor naive girl. With your strong sense of Justice and morals. I thought that we could have actually been friends. But you chose the wrong side when the time came. You should have listened to your boyfriend’s warnings when you had a chance. Let’s hope this one will get through to you. When I started this year of college, I had put up the perfect act of a sweet, kind and selfless girl all for a bet. You saw Chloe bullying that girl whom you protected and befriended. I remember many of our classmates pulled you aside to warn you of my true nature to spare you the heartache when the time came. I also told you one myself. That girl back then was not me at all and I tried to ease you into understanding that. But you were too excitable. You immediately put yourself into the category of ‘my best friend’ even though that title already belongs to my dear thief. You saw the various pictures of Gabriel’s design with Adrien as the model on my wall and decided that I have to get together with him when my heart had already been stolen by another. (Chloe fist-bumped the air. It was confirmed that her ship had sailed.) When Lila Rossi came with her grand stories, you chose to believe her over me. I will usually not admit something like this because I am too proud but it hurt when you went to her instead of me. The point is that you never stopped and listened, just going on ahead. Because if you did, you would have known that I was never your best friend. That I was never jealous of Lila over Adrien because I don’t even like him. That Marinette Dupain-Cheng isn’t even my real name and she doesn’t exist. And the lying. I haven’t accused her of anything like that. I am just calling her out for assuming the worst of me.”
The Demon Tyrant’s voice was like snow. Soft and melted easily. And so very very Cold. So much of it will knock one’s breath out. The room felt colder after the speech.
Alya stood as still as an ice statue, face-to-face with the Demon Tyrant. Her eyes averted as the blue eyes were so piercing like it could tear her soul to pieces. Lila had stopped her fake crying, thinking about who exactly had she declared an enemy of. She didn’t know if she wanted an answer or not.
“Cesaire, Rossi, I have many connections before I was Marinette Dupain-Cheng. I have even more now. With a word from me and your careers will be destroyed before they even take off. If you have common sense, you will stay out of my way.”
“Is that a threat?” Lila asked.
The Tyrant lets out a laugh and meets their eyes, “No. It’s a promise.” She turned around and walked back to her seat like a regal Empress after giving out an execution order.
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fridayfirefly · 3 years
Text
All For The Investigation
Read All For The Investigation on AO3
Masterlist
By Tim’s calculations, there was an 87% certain that Marinette Dupain-Cheng was the Parisian former hero Ladybug. However, 87% was not 100%, so Bruce required further investigation. Damian was stuck with the job.
Except, Damian knew that stuck wasn't exactly the right word. Stuck implied that he was displeased with the situation. Damian wasn't displeased. Marinette Dupain-Cheng was the most pleasant person in all of Gotham Academy. If Damian had to choose anyone to be forced to spend time with, he would choose Marinette. Though he grumbled about being forced to spend time with plebeians (for the benefit of his brothers, who would mercilessly tease Damian if they even suspected that he had a crush), Damian was quite pleased by the assignment.
Given that Marinette was in his history class, it was quite easy to arrange a situation in which they were forced to be in each others' proximities. When their teacher announced that there would be an upcoming group project with randomly assigned partnerships, it was simple for Damian to break into her office and switch around some of the names. When the partnerships were announced and Marinette and Damian were paired together, Damian made his move.
"Dupain-Cheng, if you would like to work on the project over the weekend, we can do so at my house."
"Sounds good, Wayne, but you know, you can just call me Marinette," said Marinette with a smile.
Damian felt flustered, which was a very bad sign. He never felt anything less than perfectly composed. "Then you may call me Damian."
Marinette's smile got even bigger. There was a feeling in his chest that, had it been caused by anyone else, Damian would have suspected it to be a complication of the broken ribs from Joker's last attack. "Let me give you my number, and we can plan a meeting this weekend. Would Saturday work for you?"
Damian nodded as he handed Marinette his phone. "My schedule is free on Saturday."
"Great!" chirped Marinette. She plugged in her number, then posed for a picture, explaining that it was, "For the contact photo."
And if in the privacy of his bedroom, Damian stared at that contact photo for twenty-minutes straight, it was just for research purposes. Just to compare Marinette's facial structure to that of Ladybug. Completely normal investigative business.
The next morning, Damian found his way to the bedroom of his most tolerable brother. "Grayson. Can I confide in you without any of the information getting to anyone else?"
Richard glanced up from his laptop. "Sure thing, Baby Bird." He patted a spot on the bed next to him,
"Don't call me that. I despise nicknames," grumbled Damian. He took a seat, staring at the wall in front of him, still weighing the risk versus reward of talking to Richard. If his brother had some technique for extinguishing romantic interest it would solve Damian's problem. However, if either Drake or Todd got word of Damian's crush there was no doubt in Damian's mind that they would never let him hear the end of it.
"So what's on your mind?"
"It pertains to the girl in my who Drake suspects to be Ladybug, Marinette Dupain-Cheng. She has become difficult to investigate. I have found myself unable to observe her objectively."
Richard frowned. "I'm not sure I know what you mean. Is it something that she did that's bothering you?"
Damian searched for the right words to explain the situation. He was not usually so tongue-tied, but the proper words seemed to escape him at every turn. "Dupain-Cheng is not what I expected. I assumed that it would be a simple task, to observe her and determine whether she has any connection to the Parisian superhero. However, I have found it difficult to concentrate on my mission when I am around her."
"You find it difficult to concentrate when you're around her. How so?"
Damian gritted his teeth. He didn't want to spell out his crush so obviously, but Richard seemed incapable of looking between the lines. "I have found myself preoccupied with trivial things like getting to know her personality, rather than investigating her background. She makes me feel... flustered."
Damian could see the moment that Richard made the connection. His brother's face lit up as he exclaimed, "You have a crush on her?!"
"Quiet!" snapped Damian. "This does not leave this room. I need to learn how to get rid of it, so I can get back to completing the mission."
Richard was grinning ear to ear. "That's not how crushes work. You can't just snap your fingers and have them disappear. The only thing that can get rid of a crush is time. Or sometimes if they get a haircut that kills the feeling. But mostly it just takes time."
"I cannot afford to wait for these feelings to fade. I'll look into scheduling her a haircut." Damian stood up, resolved to get rid of his crush before Marinette came over later that day to work on their project.
"No wait," Richard grabbed Damian's arm. "I doubt that your attraction to her is so shallow that a haircut would destroy the feelings you have for her. This is something that you'll have to talk to her about."
Damian frowned. "Perhaps I should give the mission to someone else. Jon could transfer to Gotham Academy for the semester. His detective skills are lacking but his judgment would be less clouded than mine. If I ignore her for long enough I'm sure that I can evade talking about my feelings."
"Why don't you just ignore the mission for a few weeks while you get to know her."
Damian fixed Richard with a death glare. "I cannot ignore this mission. Father gave it to me personally."
"How about twenty-four hours? You spend the next twenty-four hours in getting-to-know-her mode rather than background-check mode and at the end of it, we can regroup and decide what to do next. If you actually get to know her, you'll better understand the depths of your feelings. Once you have that understanding, you'll be able to see if waiting out your crush is a viable option or if you need to pass on the responsibilities to someone else."
It wasn't the perfect solution, but it was better than anything Damian had come up with. Anything that could potentially alleviate Damian's inability to focus on the investigation was worth trying. "Fine," Damian replied curtly. "Thank you for your assistance."
"No problem," said Richard. "You know, I would love to get to meet Marinette sometime."
"Don't push your luck," grumbled Damian, ignoring Richard's laughter as he stood up and left the room. There would be no way to hide the fact that Marinette was coming over to the Manor from his family. There was also no way that his family wouldn't intrude upon Damian and Marinette as they worked. However, if he explained everything beforehand and phrased everything in precisely the right way, he might be able to pass off his odd behavior towards Marinette as a part of his investigation. Damian pulled out his phone and composed a text to send to the family groupchat.
Damian: Dupain-Cheng is coming to the Manor at approximately 22:00 to work on a history project. I will be covertly conducting my investigation. From what I have gathered, she would respond better to subtle questioning, rather than a straightforward interrogation.
Tim: wait does subtle interrogation mean that you'll be flirting with her???
Jason: I need to see this
Steph: I'm willing to bet money that his flirting offends Marinette so much she storms out of the Manor before Damian can finish the mission
Dick: No way. I'll bet 20 dollars that his flirting works too well
Steph: done
Damian huffed, half tempted to call off his meeting with Marinette. His siblings were insufferable.
Damian: Please refrain from intervening. Confirming that Dupain-Cheng is Ladybug is a vital first step in determining whether the Justice League needs to interfere in the affairs of the Order of the Miraculous.
Bruce: Damian is correct. No one will bother him while he is working with Marinette.
Damian smirked as he turned his phone off. His plan wasn't foolproof, of course, but a direct order from Bruce to not interfere would force his siblings to be more subtle about spying on him and Marinette. The chance of him being interrupted was significantly decreased.
Damian got everything set up in the den, which was only ever used on family movie night. It was perfectly situated for the task at hand - a room small enough to be classed as cozy but big enough to not feel cramped. It was out of the way, surrounded by other equally unused rooms, so his siblings would have no excuse for lurking in the hallway outside. Damian brought in snacks, chargers, and a few books from the Wayne Manor library on Renaissance Art, the topic of their project.
Marinette arrived promptly at 2 in the afternoon, holding a Tupperware container full of gingerbread cookies, with a smile on her face. "Hi, Damian. I brought cookies."
None of his planning accounted for this moment, for first laying eyes on Marinette. Damian froze up, desperate to put the right words in the right order. "Welcome to Wayne Manor, Marinette. I have everything set up in the den if you'll just follow me."
"Sure." Marinette toed off her black boots and arranged them on the shoe tray next to the door. She was left in sage green cat-print socks that matched the rest of her outfit, a pine green sweater and black jeans. Damian couldn't help but wonder if she knit the sweater herself - Marinette's talent for designing was well-known throughout Gotham Academy, as it was what got her accepted into the prestigious high school in the first place.
Marinette followed Damian through the Manor, complimenting little details that Damian had never noticed before - the pattern of the curtains, the bay window in a sitting room that Damian had never bothered to enter, the family pictures that lined the wall in the hallway. Marinette made it seem so obvious to pay attention to those little details. Damian wished that he could see the Manor for the first time through her eyes and feel the same amazement that she felt as she oohed and awed over the decadence that Damian had considered banal.
Damian was so captivated by Marinette that he almost missed the fact that Drake and Brown were lurking in the study across the hall from the den. A text to his father about the gravity of his mission would be enough to get them sent away on some inconsequential but time-consuming task. Damian would have to find an inconspicuous time to pull out his phone during their work on the project to let his father know about their intrusion.
"Now I know why you call it Wayne Manor. This place is huge." Marinette shrugged off her backpack and set it down on the coffee table next to her container of cookies.
"Its size is entirely unnecessary for ordinary life," agreed Damian. "However, it makes for very challenging games of hide-and-seek."
Marinette giggled. "That sounds like fun. You'll have to invite me next time you play."
"I'll make sure of it." Damian smiled, surprised to find that his happiness wasn't forced. He rarely engaged in childish behavior, and even more rarely did he find any enjoyment in it. Yet the mental image of playing a child's game with Marinette was pleasant to him. The feelings he had for her were deeper than Damian anticipated.
The pair got to work on their project. Damian sent out the text to his father as soon as he opened his laptop, leaving Marinette under the impression that he was researching sources. A series of irritable texts in the family groupchat confirmed the fact that Drake and Brown had been removed from their hiding spot.
"Do you want to try a cookie?" asked Marinette, pushing the Tupperware towards Damian.
"Thank you." Damian took one, just to be polite. Growing up in the League of Assassins, he never really had a taste for sweets. Alfred's baking was the extent of what he would tolerate. He took a bite - small, to back up his claim that he already ate if it turned out to be inedible. Surprisingly, it was nearly as good as Alfred's gingerbread cookies, and those were tailer made to Damian's taste. The cookies were heavy on the ginger and cloves, just as Damian liked. "These are delicious," Damian professed.
Marinette blushed. "Thanks. I know they taste a little different than store-bought gingerbread. My parents make them with a lot of ginger."
"These are much superior to store-bought cookies."
"Thanks. You know, you're a lot nicer outside of school. You always seemed kind of grumpy in class."
"I'm not a fan of the state-mandated curriculum."
Marinette nodded. "I get what you mean. I barely have any room in my schedule for my design classes, with all the mandatory classes that Gotham Academy makes us take. I'm lucky that I have my internship, otherwise, I think I would go crazy, taking so many classes that I don't care about."
"Your internship is with Audrey Bourgeoise, isn't it?"
Marinette nodded. "I was friends with her daughter, back in Paris. Originally it was going to be a four-year internship in New York City, but I renegotiated some of the terms so that I could do the first two years in Paris, then the last two in Gotham, while she established the new branch of her company."
"You renegotiated the terms of a prestigious internship at the age of fourteen? Weren't you afraid of losing it if you pushed too hard?"
Marinette shrugged, nonchalant as if it were normal for an intern to make such a bold move. "I didn't want to leave Paris. My whole life was there. I wasn't ready to just pick up and move to a new country."
"What changed that you were able to come to Gotham?"
"There were a lot of reasons. Hawkmoth was the biggest one. I felt nervous about leaving my family and friends behind when he was terrorizing the city. After he was defeated I felt a lot more comfortable leaving."
That aligned with the theory that Marinette was Ladybug. "What were the other reasons?"
"My age was one. I didn't feel ready to leave home at fourteen and my parents didn't like the idea of me leaving home that young either. Another big one was the fact that I didn't have a good handle on my personal style. I was worried that designing full-time in Audrey Bourgeoise's office would cause me to lose my originality. The worst thing I could imagine was watering down my designs to appeal to the rest of the fashion industry."
"Your conviction is impressive. Most in your position would not worry about selling out to obtain such a highly coveted position."
"Audrey said the same thing, though when she said it, she spoke it with annoyance, not admiration. I've never been highly motivated by wide-spread success. I don't need to be a household name to feel content with life. I just want to design clothes that I'm proud of."
The fluttering feeling in Damian's chest returned with full force, alongside a tendril of anger at the unfairness of the situation. Here was the most perfect person Damian had ever laid his eyes on, and he was forced to pick her apart piece by piece to figure out her deepest darkest secrets. Damian didn't know much about relationships, but this didn't seem like the way they were supposed to go.
"You look upset," Marinette's observation was tinged by the worry in her voice.
"I'm not upset," he assured her. "I was just wondering how I never noticed how interesting you are."
Marinette flushed, her cheeks turning pink. "What does that mean?"
Damian shrugged. While his nonchalant attitude was all a bluff, his admiration of her accomplishments was all real. "Most of our classmates feel accomplished with the most conventional of achievements. Yet you secured an internship at the side of one of the most renowned fashion critics in the world and you still stay humble about it. You weren't blind-sighted by the incredible opportunity. You fought to maintain your values, no matter if it meant losing something priceless."
Marinette's blush deepened. "That's just who I am. It's not special, it's me."
"It is you," agreed Damian. "And it is special."
Marinette gave him a wide-eyed look, shocked by the emotion in his words. "We should get back to work," she said, self-consciously rubbing one cheek with the sleeve of her green wool sweater.
"Of course," Damian amicably agreed. He had pushed far enough for intel and had managed to get to know her a little better in the process. His flirting wasn't as blatant as it could have been, but it got the job done. Richard had said that once he knew the depths of his feelings he would know what to do. Richard was right. Damian's feelings were seemingly endless, a maze of all the things he liked about Marinette, in which every corner he turned was a new quirk that he couldn't un-notice. Yet Damian didn't want to pass on the responsibility of investigating Marinette to anyone else. He wanted a reason to spend time with her.
It wasn't the best situation. Damian wished that he could get to know her organically. However, Damian wasn't the type to dwell on the could-have-been. He had an opportunity to get to know Marinette right in front of him and he wasn't going to let it go.
Hours later, after Marinette went home, Richard stopped him in the hallway. "So what did you learn?"
"My investigation has proven inconclusive. I need to further get to know Marinette Dupain-Cheng if I want to uncover her identity. For research purposes, of course."
Richard laughed. "Of course."
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